Naruto Hatake
by Agent-G
Summary: AU. What if Naruto had been raised by Kakashi his entire life and how would raising Naruto change Kakashi's life as well? NarutoHinata, KakashiAnko later on.
1. Chapter 1

**Dislcaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything, if I did things would be a bit more different. This is for fun and no profit.  
**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 1: Light in the Darkness**

It was October 10th and it would forever be known as the darkest day in the history of the ninja village of the Hidden Leaf. It was the day the dreaded nine tailed fox demon attacked their land and their village. It was a huge monster, it's red chakra could be seen and felt by people over a mile away. The ninjas that survived the battle would still be able to tell how they could feel the killer intent of the giant fox demon, how it felt like a giant weight crushing them. But they had to protect their village and so they fought on, many died in that battle, attacks against the demon were brushed aside as though they were nothing, scores of ninjas died when it counter attacked.

It was a pure nightmare that battle that night, many thought that it was the end of things. That they would all die and then it would go on and attack their village killing everyone they held dear.

But it was their leader the Fourth Hokage a man named Minato Namikaze that ended it all. There was only one thing he could do. At that moment he stood on the mountain looking over the battle, he held a small bundle in his arms. The man was tall with yellow spike hair and blue eyes as he looked on with a great sadness in his heart. The bundle in his arms moved and he looked down and smiled at the little boy that had just been born.

"I'm sorry Naruto I have no choice. I have to save the village and there is only one technique I know of that will do it." He smiled at the young boy and his heart broke knowing this was the only time he would ever hold his son like this.

"You deserve more than this my son, you deserve to live with your family." He closed his eyes, the mother of his child Kushina Uzumaki, the greatest love of his life had died in childbirth. She had suffered an injuring in the attack and went into labour. But it was difficult and she had lost too much blood, all the medical nins were at the front line and so he had been there for his love before she had died with their son in her arms.

He placed a tarp over her body, she was still back there in his personal quarters. He couldn't leave her side even at a time like this but she was gone now and a large part of his heart went with her. They hadn't even been officially married since the damn council didn't approve of him marrying someone outside of their village. But he still loved her and she loved him, they had stayed together and had to keep his relationship a secret. Only a trusted few like his old sensei Jiraiya, his last student Kakashi, and the previous Hokage.

But now he had to make yet another sacrifice. He had left a note for those closest to him in his chambers. And he had one on his persons just in case, but tonight was the night he knew he was going to die. There was an odd peace to it, in a way he would see his beloved again, but he didn't want to leave this life. He loved his village and the people and he wanted to see his son grow up. He felt the stings in his eyes at his tears started to fall, how he wanted to see little Naruto grow up.

But he was Hokage, he had to protect the village and his duty out weighted what he wanted in life. He just hoped that Naruto would one day forgive him and understand why he had to leave him. He had left one of his tags he used for his Flaying Thunder God technique, something he used that teleported him around the same technique that earned him the name the 'Yellow Flash'.

In an instant he was transported across the area, he could hear the battle going on as he appeared among his people.

"Hokage!" A few cried out.

"Keep the line! I want you to try and keep it still!" He ordered out. Ninjas went out to surround the beast which wasn't an easy task.

He felt the presence of a old friend behind him, "So finally here, how is she?"

He turned to see the Toad Sage Jiraiya there, he had arrived just in time to help things out. Next to him he could see Sarutobi with him. Even though retired as Hokage the old man was still here in his black and grey battle armour fighting as well. There was no surprise in that but they saw the look on the young man's face and both older men felt that something horrible happened.

"She's gone." It was the only thing he could say to them. Both men felt sorrow for him, they knew just how much he loved her and how much pain he had to be in.

Then he surprised them both by smiling a little and turned to show them the bundle. "This is my son, Naruto."

Sarutobi gave a small smile at the sight of the young boy he already could see that the boy looked like his father. But Jiraiya frowned, he knew his student well and he knew that something was wrong. "Tell me why did you bring your infant child here. What do you have planned?"

The Hokage smiled although there was no humor in it. "I knew you'd figured out I had something planned old perv. There is a way to save the day but I need my son's help."

He reached into his clothing and pulled out a sealed letter. "Please come and find us when it's over and you'll find another in my chamber. There is one of my son when he's old enough that I want him to read. Also tell Kakashi I'm sorry, he's lost so much and I hate for him to lose another precious person in his life."

Jiraiya took the note with hard eyes, he knew what the boy had planned or at least an idea. He didn't want him to go, hell he was an inch from beating the hell out of him and forcing him not to go. But before he could object he was gone thanks to that damn technique of his. The older man looked at the letter and felt his sensei next to him. He looked at the older man's face and he could see that he knew as well.

"I hate this..." Was the only thing the Toad Sage could say.

"So do I." Sarutobi said to his old student. He wished Tsunade was here as well, but she had left the village and he wasn't sure where she was these days. It was only luck that Jiraiya had been wondering close enough to get here. Now he was seeing that young man go out there and for the last time. It the night had been raining it would have set the dark mood perfectly.

**-Later-**

Kakashi Hatake was a very young man and yet had already reached the level of Jonin. He had a large white hair that always seemed to stand up defying gravity. He was sitting with his back to a tree breathing hard. Not long ago the demon had been defeated, it was said that the Fourth had arrived and somehow defeated it. He smiled at the thought of his sensei being able to defeat such a monster. He looked around with his one eye over the carnage.

Bodies were everywhere, people cried out in pain some as they were dying. Medical nins were doing their best but there were just so many people injured and dying. Kakashi himself felt a few blows, nothing lethal but he needed some rest. He wished he could block out the sounds though, he felt a split lip under his mask too, he sighed at that it was one of the problems of always wearing a mask. He didn't have to of course but it was just his style, hell no one knew what he looked like since he had worn one as far back as people could remember.

He looked again with his eye that wasn't covered by his headband over the field. There would be many people that would lose their precious people today. It reminded him of his own losses, his father who committed suicide to atone for his dishonour, his mother, and worse his friends. First Obito who died on his first mission in the war, he had lost his eye on that mission and Obito had asked Rin their medic to implant one of his into Kakashi. Then not long after Rin was lost to him as well, it just seemed that everyone he loved or cared for was taken from him in life.

The only one he had left really was his sensei the new Hokage and his 'wife', well technically not but he knew that she was wife in everything but name. He was glad that his teacher and mentor had found a woman like her and were having a child soon. It seemed in even all this death there was at least something to look forward to.

He had been so engrossed he actually missed the ANBU that landed next to him until he actually hit the ground. "Kakashi Hatake, you are to report to the Hokage tower."

"Oh man I was just resting too," He grunted with the effort to get him.

"Do you need assistance?" The masked ninja asked.

"No I'm fine, just needed to catch my second wind is all." He waved it off as he made his way to the tower.

It was a long way for him, but he eventually made it to the large building under the mountain with the faces of the Hokages on them. He climbed the steps not surprised that there were no guards, everyone had been pulled off their usual duties for the demon. He found the office of the Hokage and opened them up but he was a bit confused to see not the Hokage but the previous Hokage there along with his sensei's teacher. Both of them had on looks on their faces that suddenly make Kakashi's stomach twist in on itself.

"Sarutobi-sama, Jiraiya-sama I was expected Hokage-sama to be here." He said as he walked over to them. It was then he noticed that there was a sleeping form in Sarutobi's arms.

"I'm afraid that the Hokage...I'm sorry Kakashi he's dead." Sarutobi hung his head.

Kakashi felt like he was crushed under those boulders all over again on the mission that had killed Obito. The last precious person he had in his life was gone, he felt hollow inside and very alone in the world. He hadn't felt like this since his father's death. He nearly fell to his knees but he tried to keep on a brave face in front of his elders. But it was hard, so very hard. He just wanted to just sink to his knees and cry out his pain to the heavens.

'Why? Why him? Why must everyone I get close to die?' He thought to himself and didn't notice how the old toad sage walked up to him and place a hand on his shoulder.

"I know boy, I know how you feel. I loved the kid like a son, he deserved better than this. But it was his choice and the only way to stop the demon." Jiraiya told him.

"How?" Kakashi asked not looking at the older man.

"As far as we can tell he used a forbidden art that sealed the demon into a host body. It will impression the demon for all time but the cost to balance such a technique out requires the person performing it to sacrifice their own life." Sarutobi explained and walked over to the young man.

"This is Naruto the Hokage's son, he used him to seal away the demon." He showed the snow haired young man the child.

Kakashi looked and he could see the resemblance, the yellow hair and blue eyes were very alike. Although it was strange seeing what looked like whisker marks on his face. The young boy looked up at him with curious blue eyes. Kakashi actually grinned a bit, his teacher would have been a great father and he knew that the man had been looking forward to this.

"But what of..." He trailed off asking about the mother but the looks he got told him all the he needed.

"I'm sorry she died giving birth, when the demon attacked she had been injured and with the birth...it was just too much for her body." Jiraiya told him.

"There is a letter for you here, he made one out to you to read." Sarutobi pointed with a free hand to the desk.

Kakashi walked slowly towards it, it was strange not seeing his sensei there behind the desk. Images came to his mind of seeing him there working, how he seemed to smile a lot at him, giving him his missions or just talking to him. He saw the picture there of him and his original team, and then of his sensei's team when he was a kid. He knew there was a picture of his lover in his desk drawer as well.

It just seemed like a very bad dream, one that he wanted to wake up from. That he was still alive and he would see him tomorrow. But as he picked up the letter he knew deep down that he was just being stupid, he was gone. He opened the letter and read what was on there.

'_Hello Kakashi, I know by now you're reading this and you know what happened. I'm sorry to leave you, I know you've lost so much in your life and I wish I didn't have to. But as Hokage I had to put the lives of my people above my own life and happiness.'_

'_There is so much I could tell you, you were always the brightest student I had and I know you'll do me and the village proud. In fact I'm already very proud of you.'_

'_You were like a son to me just like how Obito and Rin were like my own children. When we lost them I felt like I had failed as a teacher. I was always afraid that I would lose you next but it seems that you'll out live me after all. Sorry stupid to make a joke here but I had to do something to lighten the mood right?'_

'_Kakashi I want you to know that I'll always watch over you but I want you to do me a favour. Please I trust you to keep an eye on my son Naruto. He'll have a large burden placed on him as the jailer for the demon and I wanted him to be seen as a hero for his duty. Please watch over him from time to time, I think I can rest peacefully knowing that you will keep an eye out for him.'_

'_I have to go I can see that fox is already near the walls. Please live well my student.'_

Kakashi read it over a few times trying to memorize each word into his mind. By the end he felt the tears fall from his uncovered eye. He hung his head as he closed his eye trying to not break down at the moment.

Meanwhile Sarutobi and Jiraiya were talking about what to do with Naruto. "I'm not sure about this." Jiraiya said to his old mentor.

"I mean you honestly want to tell the entire village that this boy holds the demon in his gut?" He asked him.

"It was his wish, and he is the son of the Hokage." He said to his student.

"Look I know you have faith in people and all but look at what just happened out there. I honestly don't think people will react well to this, hell they might see the child as only a monster to be killed." The Toad Sage.

"I do have faith in the people of this village."

"Like you did with Orochimaru?" Jiraiya said coldly.

Sarutobi's head came back as it he had been visibly struck. Then he cast his look down and Jiraiya knew he hit the right place to prove his point. Hell Orochimaru had been his team mate as a kid, he had been the genius, Tsunade the woman who was known as revolutionizing the medical ninja core, and himself. Well not the most well known he pulled his own weight as a master of seals.

He had never really liked Orochimaru and when he went bad it was no surprise to him, although he still felt betrayed. That bastard had experimented on his own people the people he swore to protect, and when Sarutobi went after him, he had let him go in a moment of weakness.

Sarutobi himself knew of that failure he had honestly not seen the signs although they had been there. He had seen how angry he had been when he hadn't named Orochimaru as Hokage after him. But he never thought that his own student would go to such evil lengths. Looking down at the child he wondered if he was making another misjudgement.

"He should be put in a safe place, his father had lots of enemies and they would love nothing more than to kill his son. Maybe put him into an orphanage, with all the death out there it could be easy to say that his parents were killed in the battle. Lord knows how man orphans were made today anyway." Jiraiya muttered to himself.

"No."

Both men turned to see Kakashi looking at them, they had forgotten that the boy had been there the entire time. "I'll take him in."

Jiraiya was the first to object. "What?! Kid you're still a kid yourself you can't possibl-"

"I will," Kakashi said in an even tone. "He is my sensei's son, he asked me to look out for him. He gave me so much in life this is the least I can do to honor him.

Kakashi meant his words, the little boy was the last living link to his sensei, someone who had been the only father figure in his life after his father's death. Looking after his son was the least he could do to honor the man, and besides the thought of the Hokage's son living in some orphanage was not something he could bare. The boy deserved more than that he was sure of it.

"Kid this won't be easy, plus with taking care of him how will you deal when you have to go on missions?" Jiraiya asked him crossing his arms.

"I'll do what I can, and I could leave him in the care of certain services if I need to take missions for cash, but I've saved up a lot besides what I have in my family holdings as well." The young man said.

"You really going to let this kid go through with this?" Jiraiya asked the old Hokage.

He looked down at the child who had fallen asleep, and then to the young man. He knew all too well of Kakashi's life story and he was surprised the young man would take up such a responsibility. But maybe it would be better than just an orphanage for the young boy, there would already be too many children without parents tonight.

"Perhaps I could use you on the ANBU teams, I'll need more to fill in spots for at least a few years. It will keep you close and although they don't have the pay for A or S class missions they will afford you a bit of an easier time. Until that is Naruto is a bit older and you can go back to going out on missions." Sarutobi also knew that Kakashi was well on his way to ANBU anyway, but this would help in both matters.

With so many of their own dead their village would need more security in case other villages wanted to take advantage of it. Jiraiya gave a small grunt, no one was sure if he was for or against it but it seemed like Kakashi wouldn't move on the subject.

"I you truly do want to do this then you can try but remember this might be a lot more difficult than any ninja missions." He warned the young man, he still remembered how he had raised his own children, not to mention his estranged son.

Kakashi nodded his head as he walked towards the young boy. He knew this would be tough but he had to do this, if only in the memory of the Hokage plus one day Naruto should know of the kind of man his father was. And he could always teach little Naruto the things he had been taught as well, passing on the knowledge from Naruto's father through him. Sarutobi slowly handed the small boy to Kakashi as he held him for the first time.

Naruto moved a bit, opened his eyes for a moment and then went back to sleep. Kakashi looked at the young boy and even though his heart was heavy and filled with the hole left in it, looking at the young boy filled him with something. In a way a part of his teacher would live on in Naruto.

"Well now that's out of the way what do we tell the council? This will get out eventually you know?" The Toad Sage asked his teacher.

"I'm not sure, maybe we can tell only the elders and keep it secret by law. Only people of Jornin or higher rank could know but maybe keep it all secret and the young boy's legacy and his task as jailer only to be known to us in this room and to him when the time is right." Sarutobi would have to think on this.

He just hoped that when the time came he could think of the best way to deal with Naruto's secrets but in the mean time he would let Kakashi try his hand at parenting and he wished the boy luck. He would need all of the luck he could get.

**Chapter 2: What have I gotten myself into?**

**AN: First off let me get out that spelling/grammar is something I struggle with, so sorry for any errors that you'll find. All I can ask is that you bare with me and I hope the plot outweights any errors. I do my best but I can't catch them all. I also don't trust betas, so don't bring it up please, not unless you can promise me you can get it back to me in 24 hours and won't change things around to fit how you feel it should be.  
**


	2. What have I gotten myself into?

**AU: I had to remake the ending of this since I thought Itachi was the same age as Kakashi. Also don't leave me single word or sentence reviews those are just as bad a flames and not worth my time.**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 2: What have I gotten myself into?**

The crying was the first thing that woke the tired ANBU ninja up, Kakashi groaned as he got up from his bed. He still had on most of his uniform, he had been so tired that he had just crashed onto his bed, even his mask was still on but then he usually slept with it on anyways. It was on for so long that sometimes he forgot to take it off when he showered. But now the crying of Naruto woke the young ninja up.

He sighed as he rubbed his tired eye and went out from his room. He was still living in his apartment, it wasn't that big a place but then again he hadn't needed a big place, sure he still had his parent's old house but after what happened with his father killing himself, he just couldn't live there. Although he knew that when Naruto got bigger this place wouldn't be enough and he might have to move back, Kakashi knew he could always sell it but it had been in his family for two generations.

He made his way to Naruto's room, it had just been a small room that he used for storage but he moved all that stuff out to make room for Naruto's crib and other things. He flicked on the light blinded for a moment as the sting of the sudden light hit his eye. He blinked and saw the scene, the room was white but he did plan on fixing it up a little with more color at some point. There was the crib, a changing table and a few other things.

He walked over to Naruto's crib and looked down at the young boy. "How can someone so small have such a powerful set of lungs?" he asked himself as he picked up the crying infant.

He rocked Naruto gently trying to sooth him. It had been three months since that night he took Naruto in, and he hadn't had a decent night's sleep since. Sure he had gone days without sleep on missions but this took things to a whole new level. He swore they should let ninja's take care of infants for those sleep deprivation training.

"There there, what is it little guy? You hungry again?" Kakashi couldn't believe how much the little guy ate. It was kind of unbelievable someone so small had such a stomach. He couldn't smell anything thank goodness so it wasn't for changing. He carried Naruto into the kitchen as he went to get a bottle. The little blonde boy was dressed in orange, for some reason he seemed to like the color. Kakashi always had trouble dressing him in other colors; he would throw fits for some reason unless it was orange.

He got out a bottle from the fridge and used a small jutsu to heat it up. It was just a simple heating one used when you were stuck out in the cold. Mainly you used your chakra, the life energy that all ninjas trained to use, to mainly make a blanket of warmth around you. He just used it on his hand until the bottle was nice and warm. He adjusted Naruto and the baby eagerly fed off the bottle.

"There you go," He said gently closing the fridge with his foot and walking him around the apartment. He found out that this seemed to calm him down. "Man I know I said I'd look after you but who knew this was so hard. Makes me glad for all those babysitting rank-D missions I had as a kid."

He shivered at the memories of those missions, they were not pleasant experiences but he at least got something useful out of it and he was putting all of that to work. Naruto eventually finished and Kakashi started to pat his back to burp him. He heard the sound and smiled but then froze feeling something warm slithering on his shoulder.

"I forgot to put a tower on me again didn't I?" he asked little Naruto who giggled. Kakashi knew that he had some spit up on his shoulder now. He had been tired and forgot to put that damn rag on now and then. He found something else out, getting that stuff cleaned off a ninja uniform wasn't easy. He sighed and proceeded to walk around with Naruto a little rocking him. It took nearly an hour for the boy to sleep, he had a lot of energy in him and he was always looking around the place.

Kakashi had to watch him as he liked to crawl and explore and usually get into trouble. Kakashi had to make sure that he kept all his weapons well out of the way. He had to stop Naruto from picking up and trying to play with a shuriken that he had dropped onto the floor at some point. It wasn't an easy life that was sure but he did it, plus he knew that the boy needed him as well. Who else would look after him? The new Hokage the Third after taking back his title, had decided that only the council will know of Naruto and his past as well as the ANBU and Jonins.

He still remembered that day as well.

**-A week ago-**

Kakashi was holding Naruto as he walked into the Hokage's office, by now the entire village was slowly getting back on its feet. The dead had been buried and there was a mass funeral for everyone. He had been there with Naruto, it was only fitting after all Naruto had lost his parents that night. Even if the child didn't really know it at the moment, or maybe he had, for some strange reason Naruto had been uncharacteristically quiet during the whole thing.

Kakashi went into the office as the Hokage had told him to arrive. He walked in seeing the Third back behind the desk, he now wore the old robes he had used to wear before he had stepped down. The white robes with some red trimming, the large matching hat with the symbol of 'Fire' on the front of it.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi bowed to him as much as he could.

"Ah Kakashi I'm glad to see you, how had Naruto been?" The old man smiled at the little boy who looked up at the strange old man. He reached up with one hand to the pipe that the old man was smoking.

"Hokage if you'd please?" He said nodding his head to the pipe. The old man smiled and put it out, he had one given up on that with his own boys, but with them all grown up and moved out he had taken it up again.

Kakashi nodded his thanks, "Well Naruto is a handful, and I swear the amount of energy he has is frightening. I never knew a baby could wear you out so much so fast."

The old man gave a small laugh remember his own experiences when he was younger. "Well the reason I called you here was to tell you about my decision. I had to tell the council about Naruto, his full heritage as well as the demon sealed away inside of him."

Kakashi sighed, "Didn't go well did it?"

"No it didn't," he rubbed his temples from the headache that he got from that. "At least there were a few of the more reasonable ones. The Hyugas seem to be not opposed but they aren't exactly happy about it, but they will not go against the wishes of the Fourth. The Aburames are just as neutral but I think they're just waiting to see how the boy is before they judge him."

That he was thankful for, at least the Aburame clan kept their emotions tightly controlled but they were very logical as well.

"Any others?" Kakashi asked.

"A few of the less powerful members will not seem to cause any problems, but there is a large faction that feel that the boy is too dangerous to live, this was led by the current head of the Uchiha clan. But I gave a law that stated that they were not to discuss this outside of the council, this is an S-class secret punishable by death. So only the members of the council will know of Naruto and his secrets, only the new heads will be told and of course all the Jonins and ANBU members."

Kakashi nodded his head listening to all of this. "I have to wonder why you had to tell them at all, he would be much safer if no one knew."

The Hokage nodded, "I had considered that but I also had to consider other things. What if the secret got out? The entire council would be after my head for keeping this from them, also we also have to worry about what if one day the seal on Naruto breaks or someone tries to actually remove the damn thing off of him?"

Kakashi hadn't thought of that, but then again why would anyone do something like that?

"No one would be that insane would they? It would most likely kill Naruto if they broke the seal." Kakashi felt a bit more protective of the boy wondering what such a thing would do to the little blond boy.

"My old student the one that taught your sensei...He's heard of things. Naruto is not the first of his kind, there have been others before but mostly they had been killed either by the demons they hold or by others." The old man looked very serious in that moment as he looked at Kakashi. "There have been whispers of something brewing, rumours mainly that he was a bit concerned over. There have been lately someone or more than one person looking into people like Naruto. Vessels for demons, in fact and ancient scroll of such things was said to have been stolen recently from the Village of Mist."

"So there could be a threat but he's still looking into such things, as he is looking for other things that are of concern as well."

"Oh? What else is going on?" Kakashi asked.

"You are aware of Orochimaru's new status as a missing nin correct?" He asked and Kakashi nodded. "Well one girl Anko is missing, she was training under him and disappeared soon before we found out about what Orochimaru was doing."

The old man sighed and closed his eyes, still remembering the horrors he had found in that basement room. To think one of his own students capable of such evil things, he felt like he had failed his student in some way.

"We are searching for her but we don't know if she knew of his status when she left or not. So my other student Jiraiya is looking for leads for him as well." He leaned back into his chair feeling very tired. "This year had been a very dark year it seems."

"We will endure just as we always have Hokage," Kakashi said honestly and that made the old man smile just a bit. "But I am worried that not everyone will obey you're law about Naruto."

"Yes they may find ways around it but I felt you had to be told, just in case you need to be ready for anything." The Hokage said to him.

**-Present-**

Kakashi was putting Naruto back into his crib after the baby had gone back to sleep. He pulled the orange blanket over the sleeping form and placed his favourite toy next to him, a small orange fox. He wasn't sure why Naruto had an affinity for the animal. Maybe on some level he knew about the demon fox within him, or maybe it was a slight influence from the demon itself. He hated that last thought, the boy was so innocent and the thought of him being taken over by that monster actually scared him.

Kakashi had lost too much to lose another and in this time Naruto was becoming an important part of his life. He worried about the little boy but when Naruto laughed or smiled it actually made Kakashi happy. Happier than he had been in awhile actually, plus little Naruto had an infectious laugh, to think that people could hate such a baby was just stupid to him.

He gently ran his hand over the blonde hair, "I promise you I'll protect you Naruto."

Across the city over in another district of the city, in a large area known as the Uchiha district, in the center of it was the main Uchiha home. This was where the main branch of the family resided, it was a very large estate on par only with that of the Hyugas who were also the rivals of the Uchiha. In the main house in one of the larger rooms lit by candles sat many members of the council at the head of the table was the leader of the Uchihas, Fugaku Uchiha.

"So we are all in agreement then?" The head of the Uchiha's asked those around him.

He was a tall and powerful looking man, he didn't show emotion and looked to be the type to demand perfection from everyone around him especially of his clan. He had gathered those that knew that the Hokage was a fool to allow the vessel of the demon to live on. It didn't matter if it was the will of the Fourth to keep the boy alive or even if he was his son. Personally Fugaku never really thought much of the Fourth Hokage anyway, he had seen that man before he became the legendary Yellow Flash and he wasn't impressed with him then.

So I was little consequence to him if the son of the last Hokage were killed or not.

"Although we can't take direct action that doesn't mean that we can take overt actions." He looked at the faces around him all had eyes of hatred in them. All of them had lost someone precious to them to the demon's attack and it was a powerful motivation.

"What can we do then Fugaku-sama?" One of the men asked.

"We can't make it obvious or else the Hokage would send the ANBU after whoever was behind things." Another said.

"Yes we need someone to take the fall." Another agreed.

"Yes we need to find someone with no affiliation that will kill the boy without hesitation and if possible take their own life to prevent them from talking if captured." Fugaku said. "But the problem is finding someone like that, plus with his new 'father' around it will make things even more hard."

"Yes everyone knows of Kakashi, he even has your bloodlimit the Sharingan." One of the men stated.

Fugaku slammed his hand hard into the table. "Never speak of that in my presence. The fact that fool of a friend of his gave him the pride of my clan shames us all. To think that someone outside my clan uses the Sharingan is an everlasting insult to me. If that fool Obito was still alive I'd kill him myself for what he did."

"But you raise a fine point, Kakashi is not to be taken lightly and now he's an ANBU himself so that makes things even more complicated."

"What do we do then?" One of them asked.

"We wait, we find someone that we can use against the boy but we also might have to wait until the boy is older. Kakashi is only an ANBU to stay close to the boy but once he's old enough I know that Kakashi would go back into the field. He's that kind of ninja and he'll take on missions that will have him leave the village, and then we can easily strike at the demon boy." Fugaku said to them all.

"We shouldn't wait! He should be killed now!" Someone spoke up.

"You fool there is another reason to wait!" He snapped at the man. "The more time that goes by the more relaxed security will be around the boy. Plus any 'accident' that can happen to him would be more plausible. If something were to happen too soon, the Hokage would know that it had been set up to kill the boy."

"No we wait for the time is right and then we will strike."

Soon after that the meeting was over but the leader of the Uchiha Clan waited patiently. Then a door slid open and a young boy of about five with dark hair and matching eyes walked in, he held an impassive face just like the man across from him.

"What are your thoughts to this Itachi?" He asked the young man.

"I think it is wise to wait father." He said calmly to his father. Although personally he didn't see the point in all of this just to kill a little boy. It was beneath his family to hide in the shadows like this and plot such a thing, they were the most powerful clan and here they were acting like some weak and pathetic group of cowards. It sickened him to think that his proud clan would be reduced to such a state but he showed nothing of this.

His father nodded his head. "I want you to keep an eye out in the ninja ranks for anyone we can use. Most likely when someone is given the level of Jonin and learns of the boy's true nature we will find who we need."

Itachi bowed his head. "As you wish father but if you don't mind I need to prepare. I have a test tomorrow and I wish to be ready for it."

His father nodded his head and Itachi bowed as he left the room. He walked through the large mansion and heard the crying of his little brother. He passed an open door and saw his mother there picking up the new born and trying to sooth him. Itachi knew that his father had rarely seen his little brother, that actually bothered him a little.

He knew that his father saw that the first born son was the pride and future of the clan but that was not necessary to ignore another. His little brother was an Uchiha after all and he held hope that his little brother would prove to be strong like himself. But only time would tell of this, and he hoped that his little brother wouldn't disappoint him like so many of his clan had.

He moved on silently as his thoughts turned back into his clan, he knew his clan was supposed to be the most powerful in the village and he was the pride of their clan, but the truth was he felt he was nowhere near his limit. He trained and pushed himself to new levels and always tried to reach the next level. His power with the Sharingan was matched with no one and yet he still had not obtained its full power. He knew that there were untold of levels of strength and power for him but he just needed to be shown how to get it.

He gave a mental sigh as he got ready, he put those thoughts aside as he thought about his test in school although he didn't know why bother, he was the best in his class after all. No one was even close to where he was in his skill or intelligence just as it should be since he was an Uchiha. But still there was no challenge for him there at the school, no one to push him to his limits or beyond. He needed to become the strongest there was in the clan, maybe even the world but he was not finding anything to help him reach that goal here.

Everyone praised him for his 'hard work' but he never saw it as truly hard. He wanted a way to surpass everyone and everything, to be a true ninja. He wasn't sure how but he was sure one day he will find his way to becoming the most powerful ninja in the world and when he found out how to obtain the full power of his Sharingan no one would stop him.

**Next Up Chapter 3: What a handful**


	3. What a handful

**AU: I had to remake the ending of the last chapter since I thought Itachi was the same age as Kakashi. I didn't change much other than age and a few tiny details it's mainly the same. Also don't leave me single word or sentence reviews those are just as bad a flames and not worth my time not to mention pisses me off sometimes.**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 3: What a handful**

**-Naruto Age 4-**

Kakashi was sleeping in his bed when his alarm went off. He groaned and slammed a hand onto the evil device as he pushed the covers away. He yawed and reached for his mask putting it on and getting up. He looked at the time and groaned, it was one of the things he hated about being an ANBU Captain, and that was getting up early for team meetings and reports. If he had known that he wouldn't have taken the promotion two years ago but it offered him more time with Naruto and better pay.

That was something he needed, having a kid was expensive that was for sure. Plus the fact that Naruto ate what seemed like his own body weight at times, where it all went he had no idea. After showing and changing into his ANBU uniform he looked in on Naruto's room. It had changed over the years, gone now was the crib and other baby things, now the room held a toy box, a bed and a night stand with a lamp and clock next to it. There was a small shelve of books that he used to teach Naruto to read but mainly for him to read to Naruto at night.

It was strange how in the past four years he felt less and less like a guardian and more like a father. He had few memories of his own father and the Fourth was the next best thing he had, so he had been playing it mostly by ear. He had asked a few others in ANBU for advice who had children, and thank god for that or else he would have been totally lost. But looking at the small boy who was sleeping soundly in his bed, holding the fox toy that he had as a baby he couldn't help but smile.

Unfortunately it was breakfast time and he knew that Naruto could be hard to wake up and the Hokage had a mission for him so he wanted to say goodbye before he left. He left for the kitchen and cooked up some ramen. It was odd how Naruto loved the stuff, he had the same love for it as Kakashi had for his Icha Icha (which he kept locked up so Naruto would never find them even if he was still learning to read).

After the ramen was finished he sat down and then took a breath. "Naruto, the ramen is ready!" He called out. He raised a hand and ticked off five seconds with each finger, as soon as he made a fist meaning zero, Naruto burst into the room and jumped onto the chair wide awake and still in his orange PJs.

"Cool! Thanks daddy!" He said smiling happily as he dug into his food.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask, Naruto had been calling him daddy since he could talk and in truth he liked it. Although daddy had been his second word, his first was ramen, which he said for an entire day none stop. So no wonder he loved that food, he watched as Naruto just inhaled his meal.

"Naruto I got to go to work today, you think you'll be okay for a bit? I have to arrange for someone to look after you before I leave." He told him.

"'Kay daddy, is it going to be Iruka again?" He asked.

"We'll see Naruto, now finish up and wash up okay?"

The young Genin named Iruka had taken care of Naruto a few times, but at the moment he wasn't sure. The Chunin exams were coming up and Iruka was going training since he was going to enter this year. It was nice but he was one of the few people he trusted with Naruto. Over the years he had been aware of certain things when Naruto was alone out on the streets.

Like potted plants would fall and he just managed to pull him out of the way of them, or a cart that just happened to lose control nearly crashing into him. One night he had known someone had snuck into his home and looking around he found a few black widow spiders in Naruto's crib. They were random and spaced out but he knew that someone or some ones were targeting Naruto. He told the Hokage of course but the only thing he could do without evidence was to increase ANBU patrols around Naruto just in case. This of course lessened the 'accidents' but still they would happen.

Some even Kakashi weren't sure if they were just accidents or if he was just getting paranoid.

After making sure Naruto would be okay for at least a few hours he realized that he was running a bit late, he guess he wouldn't be able to visit the memorial this morning again so he just would when he got back. It was the least he could do to honor the memory of those that he cared for after all. He put on his ANBU mask, that of a wolf and made his way to the Hokage's office.

He found the man at his desk trying to once more at battle with his arch nemesis, the dreaded paperwork.

He smirked behind his mask, both of them actually since he still had on his regular one under that. (well three if you counted the other mask under his usual one he sometimes wore). "Hey, sorry I'm late Hokage-sama an old lady needed help crossing the street," He said taking off the wolf mask.

The old man gave a grunt trying to hide his smirk, Hatake always seemed to have an excuse. "Well now that you're finally here I have a mission for you and your squad. Tell me you remember Anko right?"

"Oh yeah the girl Kai's team found," Kakashi said as he remembered her.

She had been taken by Orochimaru a few years ago and after about a year turned up alone on a beach. She had been starving and dehydrated, in fact if the ANBU team hadn't found her she might have died after a few more days. She had been taken care of but her memories had a lot of holes in them, she sometimes got flashes now and then of something but nothing much beyond that. He also knew of her mark, the dark seal that Orochimaru put on her.

Kakashi was learning about seals lately and all ANBU were told of the seals and to keep an eye out for anyone else that had them.

"How is she doing these days?" He asked him.

"Pretty good," He gave a small smile. "That first year back was really hard on her, but she's turning out to be a great Chunin. In fact don't be surprise if in a year or so she makes Jonin. But she's also remembered something lately, she had another of her flashes, and I've been trying to help her remember."

"She thinks she remembers an area where Orochimaru might be or is. So you'll be taking her along to see if you can find anything."

Kakashi nodded, "Got it but there is on other thing that I need help with. I need someone to look after Naruto and well I would like someone that can take care of himself, lately I've been worried that someone is getting a bit more bold in harming him."

The Hokage nodded his head, he heard everything Kakashi had told him and it was worrying the old man. That was why he had looked up someone special for looking after Naruto, he was a bit...unorthodox even by Konoha standards but he was still one of their best.

"I already have someone planned for that, Gai you can come in now," He called out.

The doors opened and in walked in a Jonin with the usual vest, but he wore bright green spandex suit and had the strangest haircut, it looked like a bowl cut of some kind as he had pure black hair. He grinned with unnatural white teeth. Kakashi thought he could actually see them shine when he smiled as he gave him a thumbs up.

"Ah so this is the mighty Kakashi, the famous Copy Ninja." The strange ninja said to him. "I'm Maito Gai sometimes referred to as the Green Beast, I'm sure you remember me after all we were on a couple of missions together."

Kakashi looked at him for a moment in silence in a thinking pose. "Nope never heard of you and as odd as it is I don't remember you either."

Gai nearly face planted at that as Kakashi turned to the Hokage, "Is he on any medication that I should be aware of?"

"Not that we know of," The third said under his breath.

Gai was right back up to his old self in a second clapping a hand to Kakashi's back. "Don't worry you're youthful child is in perfect hands, if anything happens I'll do a thousands laps around Konoha on my hands with weighs on my legs." He did the same flashing grin and thumbs up again.

Kakashi suddenly had a very strong sense of doom at the moment.

**-Later-**

Kakashi was with Naruto as he was watching a kids program on the TV happily. "Now Naruto be good to Gai okay?"

"Okay but can I get Iruka next time? I really like him daddy," He said over his shoulder.

"Yeah he's a good young man, but behave with Gai okay?" He said knowing how Naruto could get, especially if he got too much sugar. The times he managed to eat too much of that even made him more hyperactive. It was insane how such a little boy could get that hyper, he swore with all that energy he could run up and down the Hokage Monument several times before getting tired.

"Daddy how long will you be gone?" Naruto asked a little worried, he hated it when his dad had to leave. He knew it was his job and all but he didn't like it, his dad always knew what to do.

He remembered when he was scared of the monster in his closet, his dad had come in asking him what was wrong and he told him about the monster. The next thing Naruto knew his father threw several kunai into the closet in the blink of an eye.

"_There now Naruto if the monster is still in there he's not happy and if he comes back just remember any monster that wants to harm you has to get through me first."_

After that Naruto slept peacefully in his room not afraid of any monster because he knew his daddy would protect him. So he always worried that something might happen when his dad was gone, but then again his dad was strong and brave and he wanted to be just like him.

Kakashi thought about it, "I'm not sure, but I promise I'll hurry okay?"

"Okay daddy." He smiled broadly at his dad and Kakashi couldn't help but smile back.

The doorbell rang and Kakashi went to it, he opened it up to see Gai there giving one of those bright smiles. He pulled him in before he could start going on again about youth and stuff like that. "Now look I'll be gone for a few days so take good care of him, there's a list of things you should know on the fridge, and careful not to give him too much sugar and you do remember what you were told about Naruto and what to watch out for right?"

Gai nodded getting a bit more serious at that last part, he knew that certain people weren't too happy with Naruto and that anyone could be after him. He did honor the late Hokage's wishes and besides to him anyone that would harm a small boy was the more unyouthful people that deserved no respect from him.

"No worries Kakashi, I'll see to his safety and you can trust me." He flashed his grin and gave the thumbs up. Kakashi just sighed as he went to introduce Naruto to Gai.

Outside his apartment however two shadowy figures were loaming across the street, both wore cloaks that hide the ninja garb under their vestments. They were a couple of missing nin, outlaw ninjas that had turned from their village. They had been hired to sneak into this village to assassinate of all things a young boy. Even among missing nins some still had some standards but these two were not one of them.

"What do you think Ichigo?" His partner asked.

"I think we should wait until Kakashi leaves Renji," He said to him.

There was no way that they wanted to fight Sharingan Kakashi, when they were told who was protecting the boy they found out the reason why they were being paid so much. Although their employer whoever it was, had made sure there was a way in and out for them and that their mission was timed so that Kakashi was far enough away, it was still a little unsettling.

They heard the stories and they didn't want to fight the Jonin so they would wait until he was a long distance away, that way if they were found out at least they had a good head start in getting the hell out of there. Besides the one in the green didn't look like that much of a threat anyway.

"We wait and get ready, Ichigo I want you to shadow them and take the boy out from a distance with your poison. I'll set up a backup plan just in case." Renji told his partner.

After that Kakashi left his home and made his way to the gate hoping that he wasn't too late.

When he got in range of the massive gate he could see two of his fellow ANBU there with a girl a little younger then he was, with purple hair pulled up at the back of her head. She was pretty looking although the scowl on her face and how she looked a bit pissed sent him a few warning bells about her.

"Damn it where the hell is he? I thought ANBU were supposed to be the elite ninjas of this city and you'd think your Captain would be on time for once," Anko said taping her foot.

"Unfortunately he's kind of...has trouble with the time apparently," One of the ANBU said. He knew all too well that their Captain was always late, it was a running joke that Kakashi would be late for his own funeral one day.

She then noticed an ANBU walking up towards them, she guessed this was the one they were waiting for.

"Sorry about that, I got lost on the road to life," He simply said to them all.

Anko raised an eyebrow, '_Lost on the road of life? What the hell does that even mean!?'_

"You got a lot of nerve buddy," She growled out getting into his face, "The least you could do is show up on damn time and I don't care if you are an ANBU I'd still kick your ass."

"Duly noted," Kakashi said in a bored tone although he could feel the killer intent from the young woman. He made a mental note not to piss her off any further or he'd have to see just how good she really was.

"Fine then let's go before I forget anything important," She said and Kakashi noticed the slightly more serious and darker look on her face. He had no idea what it had to be like living with giant holes in your memory although sometimes he wondered if he would be better forgetting certain things as well.

**-Hatake residence-**

Gai was one of the strongest ninjas there was, he had the patience of a mountain, strong like an oak tree, he had seen hundreds of battles, seen a lot in his young life but at the moment he was wondering if he could handle such a thing as a hyperactive four year old.

"Hey why do you where green? Why is your hair like that? What are those big things over your eyes? Do you know my daddy? He's the strongest and bestest there is, and I'm going to be just like him! Are you strong? Can you show me? Can you, can you, can you Mr...Uh...What was your name again mister?"

All of this within seconds came from young Naruto.

Gai had to admit the flames of youth in this boy was like a blazing inferno, he had never seen a child with so much potential energy_. 'Oh Kakashi you have a find boy! The flames burn brightly in him! I hope to one day I too will find a boy with flames that match him, he would make the perfect student!'_

He grinned at the boy and Naruto was surprise by how shinny the tall man's teeth were.

"I'm Maito Gai, little Naruto-kun, but you can call me Gai," He said to him.

"Okay," Naruto grinned at the tall man.

"So Naruto what do you want to do?"

"Play ninja!" Naruto suddenly ran off leaving Gai to search for him. For such a small child he was fast and Gai went into Naruto's room but couldn't see him anywhere. Gai was surprised that he could hide so fast but then again he knew the home better than he did.

Gai went around searching the room, he opened the closet but only saw a mess in there, nothing but what looked like a pile of laundry that hadn't been cleaned yet. Gai sighed at such a sight, he would have thought Kakashi would have taught young Naruto better than that. He shook his head and went searching for the young boy, he looked in a toy chest with no luck, then he knelt down to check under the bed.

That was when his sense of danger hit him, like all experienced ninjas they had learned to trust their gut when someone was watching or about to attack. He heard the feet running and turned just in time to catch the little blonde boy as he jumped at the man. He launched himself into Gai's chest as he caught the giggling boy.

"I got ya!" He shouted out and Gai looked across seeing the disturbed pile of clothing. He smirked knowing now that the boy had used that to hide himself.

Gai had to admit the boy showed some talent at least for surprises. He got up and placed Naruto on the ground as the young boy gave him a huge fox like smile. Gai couldn't help but like the kid, he was full of the fires of youth.

"Well my youthful young man, what happens now that you got me?" Gai asked.

"It's your turn to hide now."

"Then prepare yourself," Gai decided to show off a bit and threw down a smoke bomb.

Naruto looked with wide eyes as the smoke cleared and Gai was gone, then he grinned as he started running around looking for him. He ran out of the room and Gai who was on the ceiling smiled down at him, he was using his chakra to stick himself to the ceiling and when Naruto left simply and silently landed. He turned around going into a thinking pose, as he thought about Naruto.

He had heard how the great Kakashi had taken in the child and he had to admit he had been surprised, he never pictured Kakashi as the family type. But he seemed to be doing a good job although Naruto could be a bit more tidy, but maybe he was expecting a bit much from a four year old. He wondered what Naruto would be like when he started his training?

That was when he felt a small body wrap around his leg, "Got ya again!"

He looked down surprised at the boy had come back so quickly, "How did you..."

"Daddy uses that trick too mister," He smiled up at Gai and the older man just had to laugh.

They continued to play for a bit until Naruto got a little tired, while taking a nap Gai went over the list that Kakashi left. It was kind of simple, usually the dos and don'ts, although what was underlined in red was 'Don't feed him sugar!' in big bold letters. Gai was wondering if Kakashi was being a hen mother or just trying to warm him.

He heard the sounds of small footsteps and saw little Naruto rubbing his eye with a yawn. Then he heard the young boy's stomach growl.

"Hungry?" He asked him and Naruto nodded quickly.

"So what do you want for lunch?"

"Ramen!" He yelled out happily.

"Okay but it's a good day out, we shouldn't waste it inside all the time, how about we go outside? I've heard of a place that is supposed to have the best ramen in the city," Gai smiled seeing how huge Naruto's eyes were now.

The little boy loved ramen but if there was a place that served the best, he couldn't wait to go. He ran over to Gai, hooping up and down asking to go there. Gai smiled seeing how suddenly awake he was and gave a small laugh as he put on his vest. When they left the apartment the two ninjas that had been waiting finally saw their target. As the two walked on, they started to shadow their prey.

**Next up Chapter 4: Gai to the rescue**


	4. Gai to the Rescue

**AN: Just to let everyone know there will be a few adjustments to certain events that you'll see later on just to make the story work but overall the core events will happen later on. At least some of them after all this is an AU universe so I figured to have some fun. **

** Also because of some people I had to remove the anonymous review function because they were abusing it by sending totally random things that weren't reviews. Naruto Hatake **

**Chapter 4: Gai to the rescue**

Gai was walking down the streets of the village watching with a smile as Naruto was running around full of energy. He also noticed a few other things, most people would smile at the little boy but Gai caught a few glares at the boy. He knew full well of Naruto's little 'guest' inside of the boy but apparently word was getting around slowly about it. Gai honestly couldn't see why you could hate such a child but maybe the few of the elders on the council that had spoken of Naruto could have embellished certain details.

Meaning that they played up the demon role to the point that anyone would mistrust the boy.

Even he had heard rumours of things such as 'a demon child' that was around, they never mentioned Naruto by name but there were things such as the child having whisker marks. In a way they were getting around the Hokage's rule with not mentioning Naruto by name but still this was something that would only harm the boy.

Thankfully Naruto didn't notice this as he was too happy with the thought of ramen. Gai kept a look out for any trouble makers that is besides the two shadowy figures he sensed that were following them. Ninjas on the rooftops was a normal thing but after they had left Kakashi's he thought he felt a presence following them, as they walked on he kept an eye out and found not one but two.

They weren't bad either, they weren't a Jonin like he was most likely a high Chunin level of ninja. He couldn't turn his head to get a good look at them without giving away that he knew. So he kept an eye on them at any rate. He also continued to watch in amusement to how Naruto ran around with that huge smile on his face.

"Naruto here we are," he said and he led the boy under a tarp with a sign over it that read Ichiraku Ramen. "Hey there Ichiraku."

A man with an apron who was working the hot stove looked over his shoulder. "Ah Gai what are you doing here this fine day? And who is the little one?" he asked looking at Naruto.

Naruto had to go on his tip toes and pulled himself up just to look over the counter. He could smell ramen from here and he looked like a predator ready to eat its prey at all the ramen.

Gai smiled and ruffled his hair, "This is Naruto Hatake, and I'm taking care of him while his father is on a mission. And he seems to like ramen and you make the best in the city."

"You got that right!" He said with pride.

"Dad where is that extra stack of noodles?" Ayame the young teenage daughter walked in.

"I think under the counter dear."

"Okay," Then she turned to see a small blonde boy trying to get onto the stool. He obviously was having trouble. "Aww, whose the little cutie?"

Gai picked up Naruto and placed him on the stool.

"Naruto." He said happily wondering where his ramen was.

"He's so cute," She gushed at the little boy, he had these cute little marks and these beautiful blue eyes. She couldn't remember ever seeing anyone with eyes like his before. "So what do you want little man?"

"Ramen please!"

"What kind?" She asked.

Naruto thought about it, he wasn't sure he liked all types of ramen...well...not vegetarian for some reason. So he crossed his arms looking deep in thought then he suddenly got an idea. "All of it!"

Gai laughed and gave them an order, while all this was going on he felt that chakra of the ninja behind them. The partner didn't seem to be there so this could be the perfect time to see who was shadowing them. "Naruto I have to check on something, I'll be right back so be good okay?"

"Kay!"

Naruto went back to waiting for his ramen, the little boy was almost bouncing in his seat in anticipation. Gai had to smile at the little boy's actions and went outside.

Up on the building one of the ninjas were already lining up a shot, Ichigo took out a long tube that he had hidden under his cloak and pulled out a dart. There was enough poison on the dart to kill an elephant more than enough to take out a small boy within a second. He waited for the boy to finish, the damn flaps were in the way so he'd have to wait until the boy was out from the cover.

"I wonder what's so special about him? Oh well most likely just someone wanting to settle a score against Kakashi," He muttered to himself. He was thankful that the other guy left just for some reason. He watched and waited.

"Dynamic Entry!"

"Dynamic wh-AUGH!" Ichigo turned to the sound of the strange battle cry to get a foot planted into his face. He was surprised by the hit as it sent him flying through the air. He bounced a few times over the roof and nearly went over the edge. He quickly managed to stop himself and frantically pulled himself up, his heart racing from his near fatal fall.

He looked up to see that strange green ninja standing there. "What the hell!?"

"I figured you were up to no good," Gai said with a more serious look on his face. The ninja had lost the hood and he could see the young man with blue spiky hair and grey eyes. He didn't know the ninja from the bingo books so he must either be new or just not that good.

"You knew!?" Ichigo couldn't believe that he had been found out. He figured he had shadowed the two of them perfectly.

"Of course I am Gai Maito, the Green Beast of Konoha! The power of youth burns in me with the intensity of a thousands suns!" He struck out a pose.

Ichigo sweat dropped at this, '_This is the guy that got the drop on me? Renji will never let me live this down.'_

Ichigo stood up, "Okay then weirdo, take this!" The threw out a few kunai and the guy just vanished, "What the? Was that just an illusion?"

A powerful blow to the back of his head told him otherwise. Once more he was sent flying and landed hard on the rood. He looked to see the green ninja was behind him. He honestly didn't know how he had managed that but he formed a few hand seals. "Water Technique; Rapid fire!" Out of his mouth many small but fast moving pieces of water shot out at Gai.

The water shots were formed into blades and Gai noticed that when one hit the roof it actually cut into it. He knew that water at super pressure would cut through things like a blade and so he quickly dodged the shots. His speed was so fast that Ichigo could barely even follow, and when the attack ended Gai was right in front of him, and landed a blow to his gut that felt like a sledgehammer hit him.

He felt ribs break and fell to the ground holding his chest gasping for air. Gai lifted him up to face him, "Now then who sent you to attack Naruto-kun?"

"D-don't know his name, was through a m-middle man. Oh god I think my lung is punctured." He managed to get out.

Screaming was heard and Gai left the man there, he wasn't going anywhere and if he was it wouldn't be far anyway. He caught sight of another ninja running off with Naruto.

"Damn, so there was the other one I sense," He felt foolish for forgetting the other one. If anything happened to Naruto he would never forgive himself, plus he was sure Kakashi would kill him.

Naruto didn't know what had happened, one moment he was eating another bowl (his fourth) of the best ramen he ever had when some strange and scary ninja grabbed him. He tried to struggle but the man was too big and strong and his grip was hurting him.

"Damn brat, this was supposed to be an easy gig and now I may have just lost my partner. Well more money for me but I'm going to skin you alive for the trouble you've caused as soon as I lose the other guy." He said in a deep and cold voice. Naruto had never been so scared in his life, he wanted his daddy to be here, he always protected him and Naruto started to cry.

"Shut the hell up!" He hit Naruto on the head with his free hand, "I'll give you something to cry about soon enough."

Naruto whimpered as the man hit him and tried not to cry. Although he hoped that his daddy would come soon to save him. After a while they came to one of the forest training grounds, Renji figured he had managed to lose the other guy by now. He threw Naruto against a tree and Naruto whimpered in pain with tear filled eyes.

He looked up at the man with long blood red hair and dark eyes, there were some purple tattoos on his face and when the man was snarling at him he could see a missing tooth. "Brad normally I'm all business but you've pissed me off," He drew a large looking curved knife, "I'm going to enjoy this."

Naruto closed his eyes feeling the tears fall, he waited for the man to get over to him. It was like an eternity waiting for the man to kill him. He felt the pain of his body and wondered if it would hurt worse than this.

"Dynamic Entry!"

Naruto's eyes snapped open as the bad man was dropped kicked out of nowhere by Gai. Naruto watched with wide eyes as Gai went on to fight the ninja. He moved very fast and the bad ninja tried to attack him with the knife, Gai dodged a bit to the right making the blade pass through where his head had just been. Now while inside his opponent personal space, he gripped the wrist, he twisted making his enemy cry out in pain dropping the weapon.

Gai gave a palm strike to the man's chest sending him back, "I have no idea what kind of person would kill and harm a little innocent child, but you are definitely a very unyougthful person."

The other ninja didn't bother to say anything he made a few hand signs and then slammed his hands together. Gai saw an electrical current running over the hands as his foe charged forward trying to strike at Gai.

Gai could feel the electrical energy coming off the hands even when they weren't touching his body. He could feel the hairs on his body stand up and he knew that getting hit by just one of those wouldn't be a good thing for him. A glancing blow to his arm was proof as he cried out in pain and felt his arm got slightly numb.

The assault continued but Gai managed to keep one step ahead of the larger and thankfully slower enemy. The man was getting very frustrated with this, he went for a large right hook and Gai jumped up and over with a flip. As he was in mid air, Gai sent the back of the hell of his fight foot into the back of the man's skull. The blow was enough to daze him and when he turned around feeling the world spinning, he got one of Gai's feet to his face.

He flew through the air and landed, and didn't get back up.

Naruto had watched if all with wide child like eyes, he had never actually seen ninja's battle before and he had to admit, he thought Gai had to be almost as strong as his dad.

**-ANBU Team- **

Kakashi and his squad had been traveling for days as they were on their way to one of Orochimaru's possible hideouts. The man was a missing nin to be killed on sight, but so far he had always remained several steps ahead of the Leaf Village. It was their hope that he was using the old base of his again or there were clues to where he was going. Kakashi was thinking about what they would do if they faced him, he was good but he couldn't take on one of the legendary sanin.

He glanced at the young girl to his right as they made their way through the trees, she seemed to really want to find her old sensei. Although from the killer intent he felt her trying to repress it wasn't for a happy reunion and most likely wanted to rip him a new one. He hoped she could control herself since going into a battle with emotions like that would get her and others killed.

Then again going into a mission with just logic wasn't the right way either, he remembered how he had focused only on the mission while Obito had gone after Rin. He still wished he could redo that day over again, maybe they both would be alive today.

Kakashi pushed those thoughts away, they were on a mission and he had to keep focus.

After a bit Kakashi stopped, "I think we traveled far enough, I think we need to rest for a bit."

The others looked a bit winded although Anko looked like she wanted to keep on going.

"We can be there in a few more hours," She told him.

"Yes but it's getting dark and I don't want to travel into a possible enemy stronghold at night, with who knows what traps along the way. Besides we're tired, hungry and we're not at one hundred percent," He told her in his usual lazy tone. She seemed like she wanted to argue the point but she seemed to take a moment and jumped down from the tree, still pissed but seemed to relent.

He looked at his two other members of his team, "Women huh?" He said as a joke. The other two shook their heads and jumped down.

They set up a small camp with everyone taking turns at watch. Kakashi took the first watch as he pulled off his mask and sat down on a stone resting. He looked up the stars and his thoughts turned to Naruto and hoping that Gai was taking good care of him. Because if he didn't he was going to use his Sharingan on the green ninja.

He sighed and pulled out his favourite orange book and started to read it. It was hard to find time and places to read his favourite series with Naruto around. About an hour into his watch he heard some moaning and then a small gasp.

He looked at the tents and after a bit Anko came out looking like she had a rough night and from the looks and sounds of it, a nightmare too. He also was surprised to see her hair down, she looked more feminine like that, more soft in a way. Or it might be the lost look on her face as she sat down across the fire staring into it.

"Can't sleep huh?" He said not looking up from his book. She just shrugged and muttered something he didn't hear. He thought about what could cause the girl nightmares but given their lives it was part of the job.

"It's bad enough living with it when we're awake, but it's when we fall asleep, the point we let our guards down and want nothing but peace that it seems to attack," He said.

She looked at him confused, "What?"

"Our kind of life is a hard one, we see a lot and experience more than most. When we're awake we try and bury what has harmed us, but when we're asleep that's when it can attack us at any time."

She gave a small grunt looking at the strange ANBU, she was trying to figure this guy out. He didn't look much older than she was, although she was wondering why he was wearing that black mask when he wore that wolf one. Plus his forehead protector was covering one of his eyes, but from the small scar she saw, Anko figured he might be missing an eye.

"I don't need anyone's pity," She told him sternly.

"Wasn't offering."

"Then what?"

"Understanding."

That threw her for a bit, she had seen the looks about her when she first got back. She hated pity, she wasn't some weak little girl and hated it when people acted like she was around her.

"What would you know about anything?" She muttered.

"I know loss and loneliness."

She cast him a look, "How so?"

Kakashi sighed trying to concentrate on his book but the memories that were coming up weren't easy. "I lost my parents when I was young, my father killed himself in shame, my only two friends are dead, my sensei who was like a father to me is dead. All my precious people are gone except for one, and I don't ever want to lose him."

Anko didn't know what to say to that, her parents had died when she was young on missions, she really didn't have many friends. Although this Kurenai woman she had been teamed up with for her Chunin exam was nice and the only person she kept in touch with. But by the sounds of it this guy had a rough life, maybe that was why he hid his face from the world.

"So who is this person?"

"My son," He told her.

"You got a kid? But you don't look that much older than I do," she said shocked.

"Adopted, he lost his parents the night the Nine-Tails attacked. I know what it's like to grow up alone so I took him in, at first I was more like a guardian but over the years...I think of him more like my own son now," Kakashi meant the words, Naruto was the most precious person in the world to him he had no doubt about it.

Anko didn't know what else to say, so she just looked into the fire. After a moment she looked at him reading one of those adult books that she had heard about, she was surprised he was reading that. "Please tell me you don't keep those in your home," She smirked pointing at the book.

"It's perfectly good literature," He ignored her snort at that comment, "Besides I lock them up so he never finds them."

Anko actually broke a small smile at that, "You're a strange one...uh...you know I don't even know your name."

"Kakashi," He said looking at her with a small smile, normally ANBU don't just throw out their names kind of defeats the purpose of the masks but he didn't mind.

The name registered in Anko's mind as her eyes widened. She knew only on ninja named Kakashi that was said to hide his face from the world and by the fact he was covering one of his eyes only led to one conclusion, "Sharingan Kakashi, the Copy Nin."

He sighed at that, he really didn't like having a large reputation, it wasn't ego it was just the way people acted around him because of it. He had enough of that as a child being the son of the 'White Fang' as a kid. Odd how no one even remembered that old name these days they just focused on what he had done, it nearly made him laugh too. As a kid he vowed to get out of his father's shadow and he had, barely anyone remembered the 'White Fang' which kind of hurt. He loved his father and although many thought of the end of his father's life was a big disgrace he deserved better than to be forgotten.

Anko meanwhile shook her head as she looked up into the night sky, so here she was with the famous Copy Nin of their village. She had heard how some younger Kunoichi talk about him, or maybe swoon over him. Everyone wondered what was under that mask and others thought he was so mysterious and tried to figure him out. It nearly made Anko laugh at how here she was with him and had most likely just learned more about him than any of those so called 'fan girls' learned in years.

She looked at the man, trying to wonder how he was raising a son all his own. Since he never mentioned a woman in his life she guessed he was single at least that was something those girls would be pleased to hear. Hell even Kurenai had gossiped about him a few times. At any rate when she got back she could have some fun with this, there was all kinds of women that would pay to learn anything about him.

She smiled her nightmare forgotten and then she frowned glancing at him, did he plan on making her better? He just sat there reading one of those books looking dead to the world. She figured he didn't plan anything and decided to try and get some more sleep.

Kakashi however watched her from the corner of his eye and smiled, he was glad that he could help her out. There was just something about her, that pain of being totally alone in life that made him want to help her. Maybe because it was Naruto that helped to fill the void in his life, so he wanted to help others who had that same pain. At any rate he went back to his book, it was getting to a good point and he wanted to finish before his shift ended.

**-Konoha- **

Naruto was back in bed, he was still scared to death from that morning but he was better now that Gai was looking after him. He was holding Mr. Foxy his favourite toy the orange fox in a death grip to his chest. Gai was there in the doorway looking at the young boy, he had been so full of life that morning and looking at him now was depressing. The two ninjas had been captured and sent to interrogation although he bet that whoever was behind this was already covering their tracks.

If the middle man was still alive, he wouldn't be much longer that person was a loose thread. But this had been the first out in the open assassination attempt of Naruto, whoever was behind this was getting bolder. Gai felt like he personally wanted to punch the man or men behind this until they couldn't be identified. He had only known Naruto for a day and yet he liked the boy, and looking at him now made him sad and angry.

Normally he let things slide, never one to let things bother him that much but at times like these, they were the exception. He walked into the room and sat down next to Naruto, "Are you okay?"

"When is daddy coming back?" He asked him.

"Not until a few more days or more," He saw how Naruto held his toy even closer, "But don't worry I'm here, no one will harm you as long as Gai Maito is protecting you Naruto-kun. I promise you this, or I'll do five thousand push ups with led weights on my back."

The young boy looked up at him, "Can you really do that?"

"Of course!" He flashed a grin at him.

"Cool, you must be almost as strong as daddy."

"Well I like to think I can rival him, I may be even stronger."

"Uh-uh, my daddy is the strongest ninja there is!"

"Well technically the Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village."

"You mean the old man with the robes and funny hat?" Naruto had seen him a few times, in fact he visited Naruto a couple of times a month. He found it strange that he was stronger than his dad.

"The Hokage is the strongest in the village and for a good reason. He protects everyone in the village Naruto, it's his duty to protect everyone under his care so he has to be strong."

Naruto thought about that, he wanted to be as strong as his dad, he wanted to be able to be a great ninja as well. But if the Old Man was the strongest then maybe he should be even stronger than him, stronger than anyone so that he could protect his daddy. He knew that his dad went off on dangerous missions all the time and he always worried, but if he was stronger than he could look out for his dad.

Little did anyone know that night Naruto made a new decision in life that would shape his future and the rest of Konoha.

Gai ruffled his hair, "Get some sleep Naruto I'll be right here."

Naruto nodded his head feeling a bit better. "Thanks Unca Gai."

Gai smiled at that, he gave a small laugh as Naruto tried to get some sleep walking to the doorway. 'Unca Gai...I like tha,' he smirked to himself.

**Next up Chapter 5: The Shy Princess **


	5. The Shy Princess

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 5: The Shy Princess**

It had been a couple of weeks and Kakashi finally managed to return home, they had finally found that base that Anko had remembered the only problem no one had been there for at least three months if not more. Basically Anko was pissed the entire trip back, and after all of that Kakashi was looking forward to getting back home and checking in on Naruto. He opened the door to his apartment feeling better just stepping inside of the door.

"Ah Kakashi you have finally returned!" A very loud voice said and Kakashi sighed, he had forgotten about him.

"Hey there Gai was it? How was Naruto, any problems?" He caught the look in Gai's face and decided to sit down for this one. Gai filled him in on the two ninjas that had attacked Naruto; Kakashi knew that something like this might happen the only problem was that he had hoped to have been there for him. He heard how the two ninjas were executed although their contact was never found.

It was hearing this that Kakashi was thinking of starting Naruto on his ninja training at the moment, Naruto needed to be able to protect himself as it clearly showed that he wouldn't be around to protect Naruto all the time. He had to make sure that Naruto could be able to defend himself when the time came.

"Thank you Gai, thank you for keeping Naruto safe," he finally said to him.

Gai grinned at him, "It was no trouble at all, although he was scared by the ordeal he seems to have come around."

Kakashi was glad to hear it, "So where is he?"

"Naruto, your father is home!" he called out and what came out would be something that gave Kakashi nightmares for two months. Naruto ran out dressed in a neon green one piece suit just like Gai's. He stood beside Gai giving a grind and a thumbs up at his father. Kakashi's only visible eye twitched at the horror before him. He was hoping that he was asleep or caught in a Genjutsu.

"Daddy you're back!" Naruto said happily.

Kakashi was too tired, and too sore to move, plus there was the shock to his system. On the one hand he wanted to thank Gai for saving his son on the other he wanted to kill him in ways that would make the most diehard ANBU throw up. So he would form a compromise, he would give Gai a fifteen minute head start before he hunted him down.

**-One Year Later, Naruto Age 5-**

"Again Naruto," Kakashi said.

Naruto was in training gear as he practiced another attack combo one a training dummy, he had been at it for a couple of hours now and he was tiring. Kakashi watched on as he pointed out flaws in Naruto's stance or movements.

Things had changed a bit for them in that year, they have moved out of the apartment and Kakashi went back to his family home. It was a modest place, but it had a very large backyard with a high brick wall that fenced out the home. It was so strange being back here, the place had to be cleaned up when he got there and he started to tidy the place up when he moved back in. He remembered all the memories of this place, all those long forgotten things that came rushing back. How his mother would be cooking in the morning, how his father would train him like he was doing with Naruto now.

The only thing that had been a major problem had been that one room, the room that his father had taken his own life in, for months he couldn't face that room. But in the end he figured if he had to live in this place he would do something about it. It had been a large tea room but he turned it into a training room, the room was so different now that he sometimes forgot what had happened in it.

Naruto of course had loved the new home, he spent all week running around, playing everywhere and loved the large yard. There was a few trees and he kept on trying to climb them, he kept falling but he only dusted himself off and tried again. It was like he refused to ever let anything beat him, something Kakashi knew he got from his biological father.

For that year he also started Naruto on his training, he was only focusing on physical skills at the moment, when he was a bit older he would train Naruto in chakra. He still went on mission and apparently Naruto had taken a liking to his 'uncle Gai', although Kakashi refused to let him be alone with Naruto for more than a week. It had taken Kakashi over a week to 'unbrainwash' him from Gai's influence that first time. Iruka still helped out as well, and Naruto at least had someone to play with at times thanks to young boy.

Although Naruto had trouble making some friends, sometimes other kids would bully him or pick on him, others would just ignore him. Kakashi knew that the kids were most likely told this by their parents who were in turned 'warned' about Naruto by certain members of the council. Kakashi really wanted to shove a kunai into those men but he knew that technically they hadn't broken any laws. He just hated how Naruto would look so lonely at times when he thought no one was looking.

Kakashi was brought out of his memories seeing Naruto panting and sweating and figured it was enough for the day. "Okay Naruto good work, I want you to shower and change and for doing such a good job, I'm taking you to the park today."

"Really? Cool! Thanks dad!" He ran off suddenly filled with new energy. Kakashi smiled behind his mask at the boy's antics.

Meanwhile across the city at the same park that a lot of families brought their children too, another parent was with her own daughter that day.

The young Hinata Hyuga had been taken to the park by her mother this day, the young girl was never very good with other people, unlike the rest of her clan she was always shy around others even the other children of the branch family. But because she was of the main house the children were wary of playing with her so she was left alone a lot. Thankfully her mother noticed this and took her out with other children now and then, the only problem was Hinata was too shy to go up most of the time. She would play by herself at times wishing she could just go up to someone making a friend.

At the moment she was watching a group of kids play and she wanted to join in but she was too afraid. What if they didn't like her? What if she said something stupid and they made fun of her? What if she wasn't any good and they didn't want her to play? Thoughts like this plagued her entire life as far back as she could tell.

So she sat with her mother who was worried about her daughter. Hannah Hyuga had hoped that getting away from the clan home would help her daughter be more open but she seemed to be having some trouble here as well. She knew that her daughter was a very kind girl and would make lots of friends if only she wasn't so shy. Honestly she didn't know where she got it from, or why she was like that. She knew that her husband was worried as well, especially if the clan elders thought that their daughter wasn't good enough to be the heir and maybe another member of the family should take the role.

She knew that her husband never liked the cage bird technique used on the rest of the family and certainly didn't want them to bare it like his twin brother and his family had to.

She stood up and Hinata did the same without a word, "Why don't we get something to drink?"

"O-okay mommy," She said in her usual quiet voice.

They walked on and she noticed a tall man with large silver hair with a small blonde boy. It was a bit odd, the man had a mask on despite him being in more casual wear and had a headband over his eye. The boy had blonde hair and strange markings on his face, with a black shirt with an orange swirl pattern on them.

"Dad after this can you teach me more cool ninja stuff?" The boy asked excitedly.

His father sighed, "Yes, yes, I swear Naruto for a boy your age you seem to like training. Most kids want to play instead."

"Well...I don't really got many friends," He said and suddenly his face took on a sad look.

It was then that Hannah knew the couple, by now the entire Hyuga clan knew of Naruto Hatake and his role as the prison for the Nine Tailed Demon. However it was never spoke outside of the Clan as per the law and the children were never told. Although she had overheard a few of the branch family members expressing concern for the safety of their children.

Personally she wasn't sure what to think and maybe it was time for her to find out for herself what this Naruto was like. After all he seemed nice enough as it was, she walked up to them and Kakashi noticed a Hyuga woman walking towards them. Everyone knew a Hyuga when they saw them, the pearl eyes were a dead giveaway plus they always carried themselves with this type of elegance. She wore a blue and very expensive komodo, had long dark hair and a very beautiful features and it soon came to him who exactly it was.

"Good morning Hyuga-sama," Kakashi said with a slight nod of his head.

"Good morning to you Hatake-san." She said politely.

"Please drop the 'san' I never like that stuff anyway." He waived it off.

She looked at him, everyone knew the legendary Copy Ninja but she had expected a bit...more. He was way too relaxed and seemed bored. He didn't carry himself like a warrior and you'd never know he was with the way he talked.

Naruto looked up at the lady, she seemed kind of pretty but then he noticed something else, there was a small motion behind the lady and Naruto went to look. He walked around her to see a small girl roughly his age with short dark hair hiding behind the lady.

"Hey what's your name?" he asked.

The girl made an 'eep' sound and clutched her mother but looked at who asked. She looked to see a boy with golden hair and blue eyes looking at her confused, Hinata wasn't sure what to do. The boy had asked her a question and it was rude not to say anything but she couldn't seem to find her voice.

"Her name if Hinata, now introduce yourself," Her mother said softly.

The girl released her mother's clothing and her cheeks flushed a bit, she fiddled with her fingers looking down a bit, "M-my name is H-Hinata Hyuga."

The boy only smiled at her, "I'm Naruto, you want to go play?"

Hinata looked up both socked and surprised, no one had asked her to play before but he seemed to want to. She looked up at her mother and she could see the woman smile and nod at her, Hinata gave a small smile and nodded.

"Cool, let's go play!" He grabbed her hand and quickly led her away as she blushed a bit.

"You don't mind Naruto playing with her?" Kakashi asked watching the children.

"No, he seems like a nice boy and my daughter has trouble with making friends." She said a small smile on her lips seeing her daughter play with another child like a normal child should.

Kakashi nodded his head, "Naruto has the same but for...Other reasons I'm afraid. I think Hinata is the only child that agreed to play with him like this before."

"Then maybe they'll be good for each other", she said watching.

Naruto couldn't help but be happy, for the first time ever he had someone to play with, sure she was kind of strange, her cheeks were red a lot, she had eyes like she had never seen before. They were all pale and with no iris in them, she talked kind of funny but she seemed really nice. They started to play on the slides and jungle gym. He helped her out here and there and then they got to something he always wanted to try, the seesaw.

"Hey come one Hinata I always wanted to try this," he took her hand leading her to it. He looked at it confused not sure how you got it started, normally he only saw kids while playing it not how they got on or off. "Do you know how it works?"

Hinata nodded, "Y-yes, one goes on first and jumps up, then the other has to j-jump onto it when the o-other part goes down."

"Oh okay, then you go on first then."

Hinata got on the smallest one since it looked to be built for kids their age. She had never got to play like this before, Naruto was just so fun to be around. He made her smile and feel happier then she had been in a very long time. Plus that smile of his somehow always made her feel something, like when you felt the sun on your face on a nice spring day. It was warm and comforting, she only felt like this around her mother.

Hinata prepared herself and jumped up, Naruto quickly got on, he barely made it onto it but he got on. Then he got ready and jumped up, both children had never been on something like this, the way they rushed up into the air and just stopped and then came back down was a new type of fun for them. Their parents looked on happy to see their children play like this.

It had been a very long time since they started to play and Hannah noticed the time, she walked over to the playing children. "Hinata it's time to get back home now."

"Y-yes mother," She said and looked to Naruto.

"You can get off first," Naruto smiled at her.

She nodded and got off, unfortunately Naruto was about to get a very important lesson, a lesson in gravity. He hadn't expected to fall faster than the last time, the seat hit the ground hard and he bounced off and landed onto the ground on his back. Hinata gasped and ran over to him worried.

"N-N-Naruto are you okay!?"

"Ow, next time I got to remember to be careful," he propped himself up and gave her a smile. Hinata's worried look melted at his smile and she couldn't help but smile back. Then Naruto frowned a bit, he hadn't enjoyed himself like this in a long time and he didn't want to stop, but he knew that her mother had her reasons for going.

Hannah Hyuga walked up glad to see the young boy was okay although she kept a slightly passive face as was the way of the clan. "Hinata you can say goodbye to your friend but I can take you back here and you two can play again another day."

Naruto blinked a few times, he never had a real friend his own age before. He looked at Hinata then, "Hey Hinata...are we...you know...friends now?"

Hinata blushed as her fingers were interlaced, the truth was she liked Naruto and she did want to be his friend. She looked at her mother with hope filled eyes and her mother only smiled at her, Hinata brightened up looking at him and gave a shy smile and nodded her head.

Naruto's return smile was large and full of happiness, he finally had made a friend a real friend. "I'd like to have you as a friend. Hey dad you think Hinata-chan can come over and play some time?"

Hinata was surprised again, she had never had a friend to just go over and play with. If this was what a friend was like then she enjoyed it. She hoped that Naruto's father said yes, and that her mother would allow Naruto to come to the Hyuga compound sometime. For the first time in her short life Hinata felt like there was something to look forward to.

"Well I don't see why not that is if Hyuga-sama here doesn't mind," Kakashi smiled at Naruto ruffling his wild hair.

"I think something can be arranged," She told the group. They said their goodbyes and she led her daughter back holding her hand. She could see how happy Hinata was and was glad that her daughter finally found a friend in Naruto. She of course would talk to her husband about this but she knew how to get him to see her way, after all what kind of wife couldn't keep their husband in line?

"So Hinata what do you think of Naruto? He seems like a nice boy," she asked her daughter.

"I...I like him, he's fun...and...and...makes me happy," She blushed looking at the ground.

"That's good then Hinata," she said to her.

**-Uchiha Compound-**

Fugaku Uchiha wasn't very happy, which was hard to see at times, he usually wore such a hard expression on his face. But things were not going well, first off someone in the group had hired those damn ninjas to take out the boy last year, he hadn't sanctioned that and now the boy would be watched even more closely. His people had told of how ANBU members were making passes over the Hatake home now and even at times would make a pass by the demon-boy when they saw him.

He knew it was the Hokage's doing, the old man had to have gone senile to let that boy live, he was a danger to the entire village, if the seal on that boy failed the demon could get loose and then it would be the end for this village and everyone in it. They had lost a few promising Uchihas that day and he knew that if the demon got out again there would be no stopping its rampage. He signed as he walked through the large home, he looked out a doorway seeing his oldest son Itachi overlooking his younger brother's training.

Sasuke even though his own son so far hadn't shown the same level of talent as his older brother, it would seem that his youngest child did not measure up, it was a pity but then again to match Itachi would take a miracle, his oldest son was a prodigy. Not any other clan could lay claim to such a ninja, not even their rivals the Hyuga Clan. But there were other things that worried him, over the years Itachi was getting more and more distant.

It was getting harder and harder to understand what was going through his son's head, and it was starting to worry him. He had no idea why but it did, and the more time passed the more worried he what Itachi would do. He wasn't sure what but it was obvious that he didn't have the same respect for the Clan like other Uchiha members did, in fact he kept his distance from the clan all except for his best friend Shisui Uchiha.

Fugaku would send for the boy, he would order him to keep an eye on Itachi, and report anything out of the ordinary. He knew the boy was loyal to the clan first than to his own best friend so he didn't have to fear about the boy telling Itachi.

He watched as Sasuke missed a target with a kunai, Fugaku sighed and hung his head a bit. Why couldn't his youngest son have the same talent as his older brother? He walked away wondering if maybe Sasuke would be better off with a life outside of being a ninja? After all it was obvious that unless things got any worse Itachi would lead the Clan.

Sasuke had seen his father there and when he saw how disappointed he was in him, Sasuke felt a deep shame. All his young life he just wanted to make his father proud so why couldn't he do it? Why was his brother so much better than he was? Young Sasuke just didn't understand why he felt like he was so weak all the time. He knew that his family was supposed to be the strongest there was but if he was weak what did that make him?

"You shouldn't let what he thinks get you down little brother," Itachi said walking over to him, "He doesn't know everything or what real power is. Keep at it and prove him wrong."

Sasuke looked up to his older brother, he was everything that he tried to be. He trained so hard to be as good as Itachi but never seemed to have the power to get there. But he wouldn't stop he would be as strong as his brother and he would make his father proud of him one day. He wouldn't rest until he had proven himself to his father and clan that he was more than just the 'younger brother of Itachi', he would one day be on par with his older brother.

Sasuke got up and went back to work training, he was tried and aching but he wouldn't stop until he reached his goal, not matter what the cost. Itachi looked on, no emotions on his face but he could see that Sasuke had potential, he just needed the right motivation to let it out. Out of all the clan it was his younger brother that had the only true potential because he worked hard. The others had gotten lazy and lax, well not him he would prove just how inferior this clan was to him.

He just wasn't sure how, and besides this village offered him nothing anyway. He had no challenges, nothing to truly test himself, he had to go out on missions to find challenges and even those were disappointments. He walked away leaving his little brother to his training as he thought more about his future in this village and with this clan.

**Next up Chapter 6: Naruto vs Anko**


	6. Naruto vs Anko

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 6: Naruto vs Anko**

It had been a couple of months since Naruto met Hinata and even though he hadn't made anymore friends she was still his best friend. They would play together all the time, they would meet in that park and once Hinata's mother even brought her over to play. They had played in Naruto's large backyard, it wasn't as big as Hinata's home not that Naruto would know since he hadn't been there yet. But to him it was huge. Hinata herself was better for having a friend in her life and she looked forward with her time with Naruto.

He was always smiling and making her feel happy. One time an older boy had been picking on her and she was reduced to tears, the next thing she knew Naruto had tackled the older boy and was beating him up for making her cry. The fight hadn't been that long and the older boy was sent running but Hinata had never had anyone stand up for her like that, she was thankful for someone to stand up for her like that.

Naruto just didn't like to see Hinata cry and he was bullied himself now and then, but if was him he could take it, but not when they went after his friend.

Kakashi himself was noticing how sometimes Naruto got into fights with some boys, sometimes he would find him with a bloody lip, or dirt and bruises on his son's body. Nothing major but he didn't like that fact that other kids were picking on him. Unfortunately he knew for a fact that the older generation by now all knew or knew enough about Naruto, he caught some people glaring at him, so Kakashi glared back.

He didn't want to think what would happen to Naruto if he wasn't around to take care of him.

But he kept up Naruto's training, and he had to admit Naruto had a healthy work ethic, he kept on going sometimes until he just dropped. He was kind of proud of that, with some help he could become a great ninja one day, after all given who his biological father and adopted father it was no surprise if Naruto became a legend in his own right. It was king of nice to know that the Hatake name through Naruto would continue on.

Besides with his busy life he was doubtful that he would find a woman to settle down with and have any more kids. Sure he went out now and then but nothing serious, some were just some women that wanted to 'unmask' him, not that they ever did. Others wanted to know if the rumours about him were true, although with the rumours that he found out, Kakashi was surprised since he was sure half the things he hadn't tried...well...tried yet.

But now there was another problem, he was being sent on a mission now and he couldn't find Iruka to see if he could take care of Naruto. He was meeting with the Hokage now to see about the mission and he had no idea on who to ask to look after Naruto. He wanted to make sure that he was well looked after of course.

He entered into the Hokage's room bowing slightly, "I'm here Hokage-sama."

"Ah good Kakashi, I need you to go out and scout out the boarder. I've had reports of a group of Missing-Nin that are from Rock that is going around the boarders. They stick close by raiding villages and then sneak across into the boarder of a country that is not on friendly terms with the one they just pillaged."

Kakashi nodded, "So any pressuring ninjas will have trouble, say if we went into Cloud territory they might just attack us using the rogue group as a cover to settle old scores."

He had to admit it was dangerous but a cunning plan, plus the fact that he was most likely going to lead ANBU group meant these had to be A-class ninjas or above. This was definitely going to be a bit difficult to do, he was already making some plans on taking with him a back up squad just in case.

"Before I go I need the usual favour." He said and the old man nodded.

"I take it Iruka isn't free this time?" The old man said smoking his pike.

Kakashi nodded, "And you know my rule on Gai, no more than five days alone with Naruto...Ever. So I need someone trust worthy and can handle things. You remember what happened last year with Naruto I want to make sure who is left can handle things."

'That and Naruto,' He silently said to himself with all the little tricks he had shown Naruto in the year his son was getting pretty devious and had seemed to like pulling pranks now and then.

The Hokage was deep in thought on who to trust, he knew that word that Naruto held the demon had circulated over the years, thankfully no one had told the younger generation but still it seemed that certain people were so afraid of the boy they would bend if not break his decree. He was wondering who to trust when the door was slammed open and a very pissed off Kunoichi walked into the room.

"The hell is this!?" Anko demanded throwing down a letter. "A simple C-rank mission!? I didn't bust my ass to make Jornin just to do this old man!"

Normally a person in his position would take offence to that, but he only smiled. He knew that Anko wouldn't like that, but honestly it had been the only mission at the time and she was getting restless. "I'm sorry Anko, but there aren't any more it was either that or I give it to a Genin team."

"This sucks," She sat down with her arms crossed with a pout on her face she needed some action she was going stir crazy with nothing to do. Plus she needed to prove herself, that she wasn't some 'failure' that she had the skills. She then noticed the ANBU with the mask and she felt like she had seen that mask before. But after awhile all the ANBU looked alike to her.

"See something you like?" She grinned at him hoping for a reaction, he just shrugged which only pissed her off.

It was then that the Hokage got an idea, "Well Anko I do have a rank B mission that came in that you might need to handle."

"Oh?" Now she was interested and didn't notice how Kakashi suddenly stiffened.

"It's a bodyguard position."

"Sounds okay to me." She shrugged.

"You can't mean-" Kakashi was about to disagree he had nothing against her, hell he actually respected her.

"You got something against me?" She asked him with a dangerous tone and a glint in her eye that said if he said the wrong thing, she'd cut off his balls and feed them to him.

After their first meeting he had looked up her career now and then and he was pleased with her abilities. Sure she had some unique personality quirks but then so did most of the best ninja. He knew at times it was just a coping mechanism. He signed knowing that if anyone could protect Naruto this woman could do that, but who would protect Naruto from her?

"Very well, the ANBU will show you the way Anko." The old man grinned knowing full well Anko's reaction to her being manipulated into this.

Anko followed the ninja through the city, he was pretty quiet but that was ANBU for you. She followed him to a pretty nice home, traditional style, two story home with a large rock wall enclosing the area. A very large backyard was also seen as well. She looked around the place, it was pretty nice and wondered who lived in this home.

She got her answer in the form of a rushing blond boy that latched onto the other ninja.

"Dad! You're back already?" The little boy smiled and Anko's eyes widened.

This was the ninja's son? She looked at the young boy, blonde hair, blue eyes that she swore she had never seen on another person and there were these strange little marks on his face. He looked up curiously at her and she was wondering just what the hell was going on here.

"Hey dad whose the lady?" he asked.

The man laughed and pulled off his mask and if Anko was shocked before now she really was. It was Kakashi, she hadn't seen him since that one mission and now here she was in his home and meeting his son. Although she remembered that he was adopted so that was why the little boy looked nothing like him.

"This is Anko, she's going to be looking after you while I'm gone Naruto."

"What!?" She screamed out, "I thought this was a bodyguard duty."

"It is, you're guarding him," He smiled at her.

"It's babysitting!"

"I am NOT a baby!" Naruto shouted back at her.

"Shut it kid!"

"Make me ugly!"

"What did you call me!?"

"You heard me!"

Kakashi was wondering if he should rethink his position on Gai, at this rate. He pulled Anko aside while she screamed bloody murder at Naruto while his son only gave it back right at her. It was kind of funny seeing a Jonin arguing with a little boy but after they were alone she continued on with her ranting. First at him, then at the Hokage and then at anything that came to mind. It took fifteen minutes for her to calm down.

"You calm now?" he asked leaning against a wall.

"No."

"You at least going to stop screaming?"

"Yeah."

"Good," he pushed himself off the wall, "Now listen Anko this is important, were you given the file on the Kyuubi when you were made Jornin?"

"Yeah it was about how...oh...him..." she realized that it was Naruto that had the demon in him. The file said that the boy had been named Naruto and that he had six marks on his face. It went on saying he had been adopted by a ninja but by who had been blacked out. The only reason Kakashi would ask about that file was if Naruto was the container for that demon.

Kakashi nodded impressed with how fast she got it, "Yes, and because of that many view him with fear or hatred. In fact last year there as an assassination attempt the last time I left for a long mission. So you can understand why I want someone I either trust or someone powerful enough to be trusted with my son's life."

Anko looked into his one eye and she could see he was dead serious about this, "He means a lot to you huh?"

"He may not be of my blood...But in ever other sense he's my son. I've watched over him, cared for him, I've seen his first steps, his first words I've been there for his entire life. I know what it's like to be alone in the world and I wanted to make sure he never felt that pain...Although I've not done as good a job as I would have liked."

She looked at him confused, not knowing that the only people in Naruto's life was, the Hokage who visited him now and then, Kakashi, his 'Uncle' Gai, Iruka, the two people that ran his favourite ramen stand, and finally Hinata his only friend. He wanted more for his son but with certain adults poising the minds of the younger generation it wasn't easy for Naruto to make friends.

Anko wanted to ask a bit more but the look she saw made her rethink things. She guessed that Naruto did deserved to be protected, even if he was a brat he was still just a kid. "Fine...But I'm not happy about this just so you know."

"I know...Anko, thank you." He told her.

They went into the other room and Anko tried to get used to the fact she was going to be a glorified babysitter for the little brat. She looked down at the little blonde wondering how she got herself roped into this.

**-Later-**

Kakashi had left for his mission, leaving Anko a few things that she should know about, like Naruto's bed time, not to feed him sugar and other things. There was a list, she just scanned through it and put it away. She took the time to look around the house, it was kind of nice, although kind of bland. She found a nice training room at least and it would give her something to do later on.

She found Naruto sitting in the living room, coloring and watching some kids show. She sighed she really didn't want to watch something like that, and as she sat on the couch she took the remote and changed it.

"Hey I was watching that," Naruto said to her.

"Life is tough so get used to it," She said offhandedly.

"Please?" He looked up at her with one of those cute little pout. With his large blue eyes and cute little face most people wouldn't be able to stand to look at that for more than a minute before caving in, and Naruto knew this since he used it on his dad a lot. That is when his dad knew well enough not to look at him when he tried it.

Anko however just stared blankly at him and turned to her TV, "Sorry that doesn't work on me but nice try."

Naruto let the face fall, "Meany."

"Brat."

"Old Hag."

"What did you call me!? I'm not even twenty yet!"

"Really?" Naruto tilted his head, "I thought you were thirty."

"Thirty!?"

By this time Naruto ran off laughing with a pissed off Anko hot on his heels with said little boy laughing.

Over with Kakashi, he and his group were traveling through the large trees that for some reason were always around in the Fire Country and a lot of the others. It was odd that how there were so many all over the place, with the exception of the Country of Wind given it was a desert. Some thought it might be from people like the first Hokage who with his specialty in using tree type of jutsus, but Kakashi but it aside.

His team stopped for a moment to catch their breath and to make plans on where to go to next. He sent Owl and Crane out first, while he was with Falcon and Ox. It was odd to always call each other by the mask they wore but that was ANBU for you, they kept their identities secret from most, although Kakashi was starting to think he might want to go back to being a Jonin. Besides these missions were starting to take a toll.

That was the life in ANBU, you did the jobs that most didn't have the stomach for, but the downside was what it did to you. You could only do this for so long before it destroyed you, images of his father suddenly got into his head and he quickly put that away. That was another reason he was thinking of getting out of this, he had enough saved up now and going back to Jonin pay he would be able to handle and Naruto was older now.

He didn't want to end up like his dad and leave Naruto alone in the world like he had been. He sighed hoping that Anko and Naruto were getting along.

"Area you alright?" Ox asked him.

"Just worried about my son is all, I hope he isn't causing too much trouble."

"What could a kid possibly do?"

Kakashi actually laughed a bit at that, "He picks things up fast, he's already getting good at the basic taijutsu skills, and I've been teaching him a few other things like lock picking and how to get out of ropes."

Ox looked at him for a moment, "Why would you teach a kid that?"

He just shrugged, "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

**-Hatake Home-**

"Now then you just keep here and I'll let you go after an hour," Anko said standing up and wiping her brow.

"Let me go you big meanie!" Naruto yelled out who was at this time tried to a chair.

"And to complete it," she gagged him lightly as he glared up at her. "Hey be thankful I'm not into spanking plus I've been known to do a hell of a lot worse kid." She gave him one of those grins she reserved to scare the crap out of people, and it seemed to work well on bratty kids too.

"There now just let Anty Anko have one hour of peace and quiet." She said and closed the door, she didn't get two feet when the sounds of thumping and thrashing was heard. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I should get paid more for this." She muttered.

Anko was finally enjoying the quiet, she was on the couch just watching the TV and zoning out. It was half an hour later that she suddenly realized something; it was quiet, too quiet. In fact the muffled sounds of Naruto were suddenly gone. Now she got a very bad feeling about this and carefully got up and went to the room she left him in. She opened the door a bit and looked in, her eyes widened at the sight of the empty chair and ropes on the floor.

She burst into the room, "How the hell did-"WHAM!

Anko felt something hit her head, she had been so surprised she let her guard down and a small sack of flour that had been rigged to the door hit her on the head. She was now white as a ghost with a large vein on her head. "That...little...brat...IS DEAD!"

Sounds of laughter and running feet told her where the soon to be dead boy was, she ran after him and saw him take a corner. She was going to make sure the little brat stayed in place and raised one of her arms. From out from under her trench coat a long green snake shout out, she saw it go after the boy and take the same corner. Then she heard lots of snapping noises and she stopped dead in her tracks.

She knew by now that Naruto had a tendency for traps, and she wasn't going to fall into another one. She pressed herself up against the wall and carefully looked around it, her jaw dropped at the site of the hallway covered in mouse traps on the floor. She saw her snake was caught in several of them before it disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

'It's not possible...It just isn't...me the great Anko Mitarashi, who was trained under that snake-bastard Orochimaru, who scares the crap out of seasoned Jonins...is getting her ass kicked by a damn toddler!' She screamed in her mind. If this got out she would be a laughing stock, so she resolved that this kid was going down and hard.

Naruto had been hiding for the past ten minutes and was getting bored, the crazy lady didn't seem to be following him. He was hiding out in the laundry room under a pile of clothes thinking she wouldn't want to check in the dirty pile. But he was getting bored with this now, although she was crazy she was kind of fun too. He never had an adult like this, his dad could ground him and Uncle Gai usually didn't have it in him to play on Naruto's level. Meaning Naruto liked to do anything to win and Gai was a bit too straight forward.

Anko however seemed to be like him, she would do whatever it took to win.

So now flly bored out of his mind, Naruto decided to take the fight back to her. He started to sneak to his room where he put supplies for this and hoped that the crazy lady wouldn't find him. He didn't see anyone so when he got to his room he felt he was safe. He opened his door...and another sake of flour fell only now hitting him.

"Ahhh! What the!?"

Laughing was heard and he spun around to see Anko there, she still had flour over her body but was mostly cleaned up. She stood there laughing at him, "Serves you right brat, how do you like a taste of your own medicine?"

Naruto scowled but then grinned, this was going to be more fun then he thought. "Good but you know I have to get even now right Crazy Lady?"

Anko got a grin on her face that most people would be creeped out by, "Oh you think you can take me on Brat?"

Naruto responded by quickly closing his door, Anko took only three large steps to get to it, and when she got in, she saw Naruto dive under his bed. She put her hands on her hips actually disappointed, "Come on I thought you could think better than that." She waited for him to come out but lost patience after thirty seconds.

"Come on out already!"

No answer.

"Okay then we do it the fun way," She took the bed and lifted it up and frowned at the fact no one was under the small bed. She then noticed that the panel that was on the wall was removed. The little boy had an escape route most likely from Kakashi to ensure Naruto had an escape route if the house was ever attacked.

"Well damn..." Anko said lowering the bed, looks like the fun was going to continue. Well despite everything she had to admit, this was anything but boring.

Naruto was trying to make his way as quietly as he could through the house, thankfully he knew the home better than Anko did and knew all the great hiding spots with his games of hide and seek with Hinata. He managed to get into the backyard and decided to make a run for the really big tree and hide out there for a bit. He only made it five feet from the door when a spray of really cold water hit him.

When he stopped he glared up to the roof where Anko was with the hose, "point for me brat."

Naruto grinned at her and the rest of the day went on like this, with the two of them going in an all out war to one up the other. Anko got in a few good shots, she once managed to pin him to a wall with her kunai through the edges of his shirt, only when she took her eyes off him he slipped out of his shirt and ran off.

Naruto then got her back with greasing part of a floor so when she chased him she slipped and crashed into a wall. Naruto ended up running form snakes, kunai and a few fire low level fire attacks, but he gave it back just as much as he could.

By now Naruto broke out his water guns and had soaked Anko in water that had ice in the tank so it was really, really cold. The outcry she gave was well worth it when he lost one of this guns in fleeing, Anko picked it up and the two ended up in a water fight in the backyard, both of them were wet, muddy and covered in various things such as flour, sugar, feathers, and paint.

Both of them by the time the sun was going down were laying on the ground panting, feeling very tired, sore in some areas and just overall drained. Anko couldn't believe she felt so drained by just a kid, she usually only felt like this during extreme training sessions.

Naruto was looking up at the darkening sky with a large smile on his face, despite everything it had been really fun, "so...who won?"

Anko couldn't take it anymore, here she was a Jonin and had spent most of the day going around chasing a kid like she was a kid herself and he thought it all a game. Truth was she never had much of a childhood and she never really got to play much as a child, and she found that she had fun herself. It was a total surprise for her but she actually had fun. It was so twisted that to her it actually made sense, it might not for most others but for her it did.

"Don't know and don't care, come on. We need to clean up and then I can order some food."

"Can we have ramen?" he asked.

"As long as I can have some dango too."

"What's dango?"

She looked shocked at the boy as they got up and then she smiled, "I've got so much to teach you about the finer things in life and dango is at the top of the list to me."

**-That night-**

Naruto woke up, it was late in the night by what the clock said. He yawed and felt his dry throat, he knew he couldn't sleep with it like this and grumbled as he got out of bed. He pushed the covers and grabbing his stuffed fox, Mr. Foxy, he went into the halls. He went for the bathroom rubbing his eye, it was dark but he knew his home very well by now.

Then he stopped hearing something, he moved to his dad's room where the Anko lady was sleeping. He pushed the door open a bit and looked inside. Anko was on the bed but was tossing and turning and muttering to herself. Naruto knew it was a nightmare, he had seen his dad have a few as well but his dad never liked to talk about them. So young Naruto climbed into his dad's bed and shook the woman awake.

"Hey crazy lady wake up!"

He froze as she shot up and pressed a kunai to his throat, he froze in that instant and the look in her eyes were of a cold killer. But she realized what was going on her eyes widened and she quickly dropped the weapon away. "Oh god kid I'm sorry."

Naruto was still a bit scared but put it away, ever since that day the two ninjas had tried to kill him he promised not to be scared again. He noticed how sad she looked for a moment looking at the wall in front of her.

"Bad dream huh?" He asked.

Anko nodded her head, she didn't want to tell him what exactly. She could barely remember them anyway but it was all the same. The darkness, the cries of pain, horrible images, people twisted around into horrible images, pain. But she remembered the darkness, the loneliness the most. She noticed the kid was still there in his orange pjs looking at her.

"What?"

"You want Mr. Foxy to sleep with?" He asked honestly like it was the answer to her problems.

"Huh?" She looked confused.

He handed her a stuffed fox, "This is Mr. Foxy, he's my favourite toy. I always sleep with him, and when I get nightmares I hug him tightly. I even give him to my dad when he gets nightmares too."

Anko had to grin at how strange it all was, she wasn't sure what was more funny. A child trying to consol her on things he couldn't possibly understand or the thought of the great Sharingan Kakashi slept with a stuffed fox when he had nightmares. She tried not to laugh at that image but it was pretty funny.

'What is with this family? Do they go around trying to make others feel better or just me?' She thought to herself remembering how Kakashi had talked to her a year ago. It was a long time but she still remembered that night.

She looked down at the kid and smiled, not one of her smiles she used to scare people but one of her rare and true smiles. "Thanks brat."

He smiled up at her since she didn't mean the word in anger but had said it in a gentle tone. "Night Crazy Lady." He jumped off going to get his drink of water.

Anko snorted and shook her head trying not to laugh, she flopped back onto the bed looking at the toy. It looked well worn and some repair jobs to it, obviously something that was cared for, for a long time. She decided after everything maybe she liked the kid after all. Sure he could be a bit of a brat but she couldn't remember the last time she had been pushed like that and she actually had fun.

'You're certainly a strange one Naruto but I'll admit this, you make things interesting.'

**Next up Chapter 7: Naruto's Birthday**


	7. Naruto's Birthday

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 7: Naruto's Birthday**

Kakashi made it home later over a week later than he had left, he had just came from the hospital and he felt like hell. The mission had been bad, he lost people, people got hurt, they got the missing nins but the price was high. He had a small stab wound that had been patched up, and a cut on his leg that he knew would be giving him problems for a few days at least. He walked inside and found himself in the living room.

He landed on the couch putting his wolf mask on the table and sighed, feeling like his body was nothing but lead weights. He closed his eyes just happy to be home.

'I can't keep doing this, it's killing me...' He thought to himself, 'I think it's time to quit ANBU, if I keep on doing this it will ruin me. I miss the life of a Jonin, sure ANBU is great status but I don't think I can keep this up much longer. I don't want to be just an empty shell for Naruto later on in life I want to enjoy his life.'

He had seen how some people who had cut out all emotion just to keep sane sometimes and he didn't want that. He knew that this was it, this was the last mission as an ANBU. He just wanted to sleep but the blood and screams came out of the darkness and wouldn't leave him alone. He suddenly felt a presence behind him and he jumped up and spun pulling out a kunai.

"Whoa there easy One-Eye," Anko said to him.

He relaxed seeing her, "Sorry."

"Hey it's okay we've all been there," She said seeing him jumpy like that she guessed he was still wound up from a mission. That was one of the risks with high level missions, sometimes you can be jumpy for hours, days or even a week after it. She sat down across from him taking in a look, he had cuts on his uniform, dirt and blood. Lots of blood and from the looks of it not all of it was his.

"You look like hell," she said with a forced small smile.

"I feel like hell," He sighed.

"How bad?"

"Very bad, lost two people, a few more wounded...one lost his leg, his career as a ninja is over."

Anko winced at that, there was only one thing worse for a ninja then death and that was not being a ninja. To get wounded like that was the worst thing that could happen, you spend your life doing something and then in a moment it's taken from you.

"I'm through..."

"What?" She asked surprised.

"I'm going back to being a Jonin, this was it for me I'm tired of the life. I want to be there for Naruto and being a Jonin will let me do that," he looked at her now, "So how was he?"

Anko smiled a bit, "Well we got off to a rocky start...but the brat is okay as long as you know how to handle him. I have no idea where he gets the energy," she sighed feeling drained.

"You gave him lots of sugar today didn't you?" He smirked seeing her tired nod, "I told you not to do that, he's got enough energy as it is. You add in a sugar rush and it's like ten times worse, you wouldn't believe what I had to go through the first time it happened."

"Oh trust me I would, how the hell can a kid be that hyperactive?" She asked him and he only gave out a laugh. It was good to laugh after all of this and he felt a bit better for it. Anko just smirked at him knowing that he needed to do that as well. "Besides that I actually had some fun with the little whirlwind of chaos, that Hyuga girl came by a few times and they played too. Never knew he was friends with one of them."

He nodded his head at that, glad to hear things were going well. "Yes that would be Hinata, Hiashi Hyuga's daughter."

"Whoa you mean Head of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi?" Anko said surprised and saw his nod. "Damn, never seen the guy in person at least I don't think I did. Some guy named Hizashi dropped him off," She stopped as he started to laugh again. "What?"

"Hizashi is Hisashi's twin younger brother, how did you not know who is who?"

Now she was getting a bit pissed, "Hey it's not my damn fault! They all look the same to me, all with long hair, same eyes, same style of dress. It's like they're all freaking clones or something." She crossed her arms and looked away feeling a little embarrassed but didn't show it.

"Well at any rate glad there were no problems, although I really think I'll sleep now."

"Well I guess it's my time to leave since you're here," she went to get up feeling tired. She had to live an hour walk away too, she didn't like the idea of walking all that way at this time of the night.

"You can stay here," Kakashi told her and she looked at him surprised, "I'm not going to let you go at this hour and besides I think Naruto would want to say goodbye in the morning."

"So where are you sleeping?" She smirked and put her hands on her hips, "I've been using your bed and I'm not giving it up."

"Don't worry I don't think I can move from this spot, the couch is fine," He laid himself down and he was already feeling like he was about to pass out. Anko smiled seeing him like that and went to her room but then stopped. She waited for a few minutes and then silently snuck back, she could see he was passed out and it was just too good a chance. She had to see what was under that mask, she gently went to the couch and slowly started to put her hand to the mask. She held her breath and was just about there when his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist.

She jumped but stayed silent, "Okay fine you can stop faking...Kakashi...hey...this isn't funny."

Then she heard a slight snore and the hand dropped, her eyes widened by the fact that he was still asleep! He grabbed her hand out of reflex which was impressive if not a bit creepy that he knew how to do that. She would try again but figured to just cut her losses, she would find a way to get that mask one day and see what the big deal was with it. She checked to see that Naruto was still asleep and was tempted to get his stuffed toy and place with Kakashi and take a photo.

Too bad she didn't bring a camera, oh well always something to do later. She got to the bed and fell asleep pretty fast, Naruto wore her out that day. She woke up to the sun blinding her and groaned rolling over and pulling the covers over her head.

"God just let me sleep in," she muttered trying to go back to sleep. Unfortunately she was one of those people that had a hard time going back to sleep once she woke up. She tried for fifteen minutes and failing that sighed and went to go and get some coffee. She was on her way when she noticed the couch was empty, and the wolf mask still on the table. She arced and eye brow at that and took a look into the kitchen.

'I wonder where he is?' she thought but then remembered his bloody and torn uniform and the fact he had only just got back from a mission. 'He might be in the bathroom taking a shower or something, I doubt he wants the kid to see him all bloody like that.'

She started the coffee and after starting her own breakfast she felt someone walk in behind her. She quickly glanced behind her and saw it was Kakashi, she had to admit she didn't even hear him. He was in loose pants and a t-shirt but still had on that damn mask and kept his left eye closed.

"Morning."

"Morning," he sighed sitting down feeling all the physical pains of the mission settling in, "May don't you look all domestic." He just barely managed to dodge a kitchen knife that had been thrown at him although he guessed if she meant it, she wouldn't have missed.

"Got the warning?" She asked, and he nodded, "Good, cause there is no way in hell I'm 'domestic' in any way got it Cyclopes?"

Soon after that Kakashi was helping out since it was a long time since he had a decent meal, ration bars were not the best tasting food plus he wanted to make some ramen for Naruto. He always made it when he came back from a mission and he knew this would make Naruto's morning. It wasn't long after that said blond boy was walking into the room rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Mornin'..."

"Hey there son."

Naruto's eyes widened at Kakashi's smiling masked face, "Daddy!" He ran over hugging the man's legs. Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair a bit so glad to see him again. Anko was looking at the scene and even she had to smile at the sight. She could barely remember her own family as a child, but what she could remember was that she had been happy back then. It seemed like another life time ago to her, but she could see just how much the two of them meant to the other.

She watched at Kakashi, one of the most feared ninja's to others outside of their village, a prodigy child that was a legend, act like a normal dad in front of her. She wasn't sure if it spoiled the illusion that many built up around him, but to her it just made him seem more human. They ate breakfast together which was weird since she always ate alone in her place.

Even the few times she had some male company over for the night, she usually either kicked out of bed that night or in the morning. She had figured she wasn't the type to get involved in relationships, they just complicated things. Although a small part of her did feel kind of nice like this, she almost felt like a normal person again. Just sitting here having breakfast with a loud energetic kid, his laid back father as he listened to everything his son said with interests. It was kind of surreal for her, to find herself like this but she enjoyed it.

After breakfast she got ready and was about to leave when Naruto walked up to her, "Hey you think you can come again sometime?"

She could see his hopeful expression and truth was she liked the kid, "I think so."

He smiled even brightly, "Cool, my birthday is next month you wanna come?"

"I don't know..." she was never one for that kind of thing.

"Well I hope you do," Kakashi said coming around a corner, "Naruto seems to have taken a liking to you and the more the better, right Naruto?"

"Yeah!" He grinned up at her and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Tell you what...If I'm not busy I'll stop by."

"Cool! Thanks Anti Anko I hope you come," Naruto took off running happy that someone else might actually show up for his birthday for once. It was nice and all with his dad but other kids got to have friends over and so far he only had Hinata, and Gai and Iruka. He hoped Anko would show up besides she was fun.

"Antie Anko?" She looked to Kakashi.

"Hmmm...you've really made an impression on him, he doesn't usually hand out his little 'titles' like that to just anyone. Looks like he really likes having you around," he smiled at her.

She gave a small grunt and turned to leave, although she didn't show it, it was kind of nice to know that.

**-Naruto's Birthday-**

Naruto woke up that morning and after getting fully awake he suddenly realized what today was. He jumped up and changed and ran into the kitchen where Kakashi was there with a breakfast already for him. Naruto jumped up and started to dig in right away.

"Slow down son," Kakashi smiled.

"Sorry dad, but it's my birthday! And this is going to be the best one!" He couldn't wait, for the first time in a long time he was going to have more people than ever. Hinata was supposed to come, Iruka was coming, the Old Man with the robes, Gai said he'd show up and he hoped Anko would too.

"Well since it's your birthday I think you can skip training today."

"Awww do I have to?"

Kakashi was surprised by this, "you actually want to train today?"

"Yeah how else will I get to be a great ninja?"

Kakashi smiled as he pulled down his mask to eat, it was one of the few times he actually took the time to eat slowly when he was alone with Naruto. He was also happy that Naruto had that kind of work ethic, although it seemed that Naruto seemed to equate training to fun for some reason.

"Okay then after this we'll train for a bit then the others should be here after."

Naruto jumped up with a shout and Kakashi had to laugh, there was no doubt that Naruto was the most spirited boy on the planet and he was glad to have taken him in.

Later that day Hinata Hyuga was walking towards Naruto's home with her gift. She hoped that Naruto would like it, and was a little worried he might not after all this was the first gift she got for a friend. Thankfully the presence of her mother beside her was comforting.

"Now you be a good guest okay?" her mother asked gently and she nodded her head. They arrived at the Hatake home and were welcomed in by an energetic Naruto who was happy to see his friend. He grabbed her hand and led her side glad to start things out. Her mother only smiled a little at the scene and walked in. She found Kakashi there with a young man with a scar over his face.

"Ah glad for you to show up," Kakashi smiled (at least she figured he was with that mask on), "This is Iruka he looks after Naruto sometimes and I think is like a surrogate big brother to him."

Iruka looked a little embarrassed by that, "It's nothing really, I got no family of my own and Naruto is...Well he takes a little getting used to but he's pretty fun to hang out with and I got to admit he's never boring."

She nodded her head, "Yes I've noticed that myself."

As the two children were playing a little other guests showed up, first came in Gai who got a nice welcome from Naruto and an impassive one from Kakashi, this led to Gai telling how Kakashi's attitude was always so 'hip and cool' all the time while he showed off his 'fires of youth'. Kakashi just responded by asking if he had said something making the other ninja face fault. In all honesty Kakashi just tried to tune Gai out when he got on a roll but he knew exactly what he was going on about, he just did this cause it was fun to tease Gai like that.

The next guest was someone that the Hyuga matriarch was surprised to see but the Hokage himself. He came in with his usual white robes and smiling as Kakashi welcomed him inside of the home. She was still composing herself not expecting to see him there, she had no idea that Naruto knew the Hokage personally.

"Hey Old Man!" Naruto yelled out running over to him, she thought that the Hokage would scold the young boy but he actually smiled.

"Hello there Naruto how are you doing today?" He asked bending down a little.

"Great, this is going to be the best birthday ever!" He smiled broadly at him.

"They have a special relationship," Kakashi whispered to Hinata's mother who was surprised that the man suck up on her like that. "He can get away with calling him that but to him it's actually an honorary title that he gave out. Like with Gai who he called 'uncle' and Iruka I've sometimes heard him call him 'big brother' at times as well. It's his way of showing special affection to those close to him."

She nodded her head in understanding now, it wasn't long until another guest showed up. A very sexily dressed young woman who she later learned was Anko. Now she understood why her brother's twin when he came back one day was muttering about unseemly female ninjas. Anko wore things that no Hyuga would dare be seen out in public and she really didn't like the idea of her only daughter exposed to such things at such a young age. But it was Naruto's birthday and she wouldn't ruin it.

"Ah Kakashi I must admit when I heard you were back as a Jonin I was glad to hear it," Gai smiled at him. "Finally I can truely test myself against the mighty Kakashi as who is the best Jonin in all of Kohona."

"What are you getting at Gai?" He asked confussed.

"Simple I hear you are the best and I want to beat you in a challenge of my choosing."

"Sorry not interested."

Naruto heard this and got an idea on how to get his dad to go along with it. "Dad are you saying that you can't beat Uncle Gai? Then maybe the flames of youth are stronger and I should train myself with the power of youth on my side!"

"That's the spirit Naruto!" Gai gave him the thumbs up pose.

Kakashi's visible eye twitched at this, he spent all that time taking away all of Gai's influence on his son there was no way he was going to let Gai poison his son's mind with that Power of Youth crap. He started to walk to the backyard and yanked on Gai's shirt hauling him with him.

"Come on and let's get this over with." Kakashi grumbled.

Naruto grinned at that, but then he noticed the Hokage and walked over to him. "Hey Old Man I hear that you're the Hokage right? Does that make you the strongest ninja in the village?"

He regarded the young boy, "Yes Naruto I suppose I am."

"Then one day I'll be as strong as you-no stronger than you, I'll be the strongest of all time!"

"And why is that Naruto?"

Naruto smiled up at him but his eyes were more serious as though they burned with a purpose, "Cause one day...I'll be Hokage too!"

"Why do you want to be Hokage, Naruto?"

Naruto thought about it, "Back when the scary man took me Uncle Gai saved me...I couldn't do anything...but he saved me. He goes out there and protects the people of this village just like my dad and Anko and Iruka. They all protect people and...Well I want to protect people too, I want to make sure nothing bad happens to them, so I'll become the strongest there is to make sure of it."

He was actually surprised by the young boy's statement, 'So much like his father, Minato you should be proud of your son.'

The party went on after that and Naruto had an idea, he had told Hinata about this but he actually wanted to show her for once. Besides it was really cool and neat thing that his dad could do.

"Hey dad can you let out Pakkun and the others?"

Kakashi looked down to see Naruto with Hinata, "You want them here?"

"Yeah I told Hinata that you can summon ninja dogs that talk and stuff! Besides I haven't seen them in a long time," Naruto looked up giving Kakashi a large blue eyed look.

Normally Kakashi would only use his ninja dogs for tracking although he did use them from time to time to look out for Naruto. Plus the dogs liked him and he was afraid they might spoil him sometimes but when he would only be away for the day usually he trusted them to look out for him. Besides it was his birthday so he figured they would want to come out for today anyway.

"Alright then Naruto," he said to the happy little boy. He pulled out a kunai and small a small cut on his thumb, he noticed Hinata gasp at this covering her mouth. "Sorry summons like this need blood." He went through the hand seals moulding his chakra. Sometimes he needed a scroll to do this, if he needed them for a battle but when he wasn't in a rush he could use the longer method. He was sure that with enough practice he could pull this off whenever he wanted to, he just never had much need to call them out before Naruto came around.

Finally he was finished, "Summoning Jutsu!"

He slammed his hand onto the ground and in a big puff of smoke stood eight dogs in blue clothing with strange child like drawings of faces on the backs, along with bits and pieces of other clothing. There was everything from Bull the huge bulldog to the smallest but most intelligent of his dogs, Pakkun a small pug who always seemed to have a depressed look on his face. He once asked about that and Pakkun had just said that this was just his normal face.

Hinata's eyes were large at the sight of the dogs and the small one came up to Naruto as he bent down to it.

"Hey Pakkun."

"Ah Naruto how is it going?" The dog said in a surprisingly deep voice.

"Great it's my birthday and I wanted you to meet my friend Hinata, hey Hinata come and say hello."

Hinata walked a little nervously over to the dogs, they looked at her curiously and a large one white one with small shades on started to sniff her a bit. She went rigid at this not sure what to do, the little one came up to her, "Don't mind him, he's just checking you out. But it's nice to meet a friend of Naruto's."

"Yep she's my very best friend," Naruto said smiling making the young girl blush as she fidgeted with her fingers as was her nervous habit. "Hey can she touch your paw? He's got like the best paws they're super soft and stuff."

Pakkun was glad to finally find someone who appreciated that, Kakashi never did that was for sure so he raised his paw up to the shy girl. She took a timid step before reaching down to the dog and felt it, she was surprised that it was super soft. "T-t-that's really nice Kakkun-san."

'Finally people are appreciating this, they have no idea how hard it is for dogs to keep their paws like that,' he thought to himself.

"Hey you guys want to play?" Naruto asked, at that all the dogs looked eager. Naruto liked to play with them and since they only got called out for missions, this was always a nice break from it all.

Kakashi smiled at the scene as the two children began to play with his summon animals, he was thinking of one day showing Naruto that, after all if he could summon his dogs it would help things out. You didn't even need a contract with them since they were part of the family in a way, he was taught this by his father so it was only fitting to teach Naruto. Plus he would feel a bit better knowing Naruto had them for backup at times.

Iruka was standing there smiling seeing the two kids, somehow Naruto managed to convince Hinata to get on the large bulldog's back as the two kids road around on him, thankfully he wasn't going very fast but Hinata was holding onto Naruto very tightly and blushing bright red on her face too. "He's a very happy kid, I've never known anyone like him."

Kakashi nodded, "Yeah that he is."

"The boy is certainly surprising," The Hokage smiled with his pipe in hand. He could see the fire that burned inside of Naruto, if properly cultivated he could go very far in the ninja world. He cast a look at Kakashi, he was sorry to miss such a promising ANBU although Itachi was making very good progress filling in the role. But he knew what happens when an ANBU burns out, it wasn't pretty and he could see that Kakashi wanted to get out before that happened.

Still besides that he had to admit that Kakashi had changed a bit since taking in Naruto. Sure he was still late but not as much, and a few times he actually showed up only five minutes late. He still visited the monument to pay his respects but didn't spend hours there since he had to take care of Naruto. He also noticed that Kakashi had been actually happier. It was subtle but the old man knew what to look for, and he could see the change in the young man.

He cast a look to Anko who was talking with the Hyuga matriarch, and who was trying to keep on her proper mask while Anko was trying her best to crack that mask. By the looks of it she was giving one of her in depth stories either about something that would turn stomachs or make someone blush bright red. Even he had to admit she seemed a bit better knowing Naruto, it seemed that Naruto had the ability to touch the hearts and minds of those he came into contact with.

He smiled at that, it was definitely something he would need if he truly did want to become Hokage. A frown slipped into his face then, remembering all the things that had happened to the boy, 'accidents' and other things. It was a good thing that only rumours surrounded the boy and nothing concrete, although there were members of the council that still felt that the public had a right to know if the seal were ever broken.

It was silly of course that seal couldn't be just broken like a twig but still others were afraid. He was afraid what would happen if the truth finally did come out, he knew there were those that would stand by Naruto, but he was worried. Already he heard of how children were warned away from him and if that came out, then what would they think if they're parents started to outright call him a demon and monster?

He didn't like it, not at all.

After some playing, which Naruto managed to get Iruka involved in a little, it was time for Naruto's presents. His face lit up at the different coloured boxes. He picked up one from Hinata first, he opened it up and found a kimono that fit him, it was all orange and black his favourite colors, there was a headband too and there was even a new toy in there. "Cool! Thanks Hinata!"

Hinata smiled glad that he liked it.

He put aside the clothing except for the headband that he put on, from Iruka he got a book on ninjas, which he was eager to learn from. His dad gave him some new training clothing and blunted kunai set telling him he was ready for weapons training with him. Naruto was eager to try them out the next day. From the Hokage he got a couple of cool toys, Gai gave him a few leg and arm weights for his training, he was going to give Naruto another green jump suit but Kakashi had told him before hand if he ever tried to give Naruto one of those again he would use his Sharingan, last was Anko who handed him a box.

"Wasn't sure what to get ya brat but...I think you may like it," she told him.

Naruto opened it up and saw a few things in there, he pulled out a mask. In fact the box held at least four sets of the same mask. They were all black but had three orange slash marks that looked like his whisker marks on his face. Naruto's eyes lid up and put it on, now with the mask and headband he looked like a smaller and blonder version of Kakashi.

Kakashi smiled at the sight of it, as Naruto smiled back at him mimicking his dad's smile with how his eyes closed.

"Great now there are two of them," Iruka grinned shaking his head.

"You got a problem with my gift Scar-Boy?" Anko said dangerously and he immediately jumped back from the Jonin. She only gave him a wicked grin that sent shivers down his spine and not in the good way.

"Thanks Auntie Anko this is cool," Naruto thought it really was, with the headband and now his very own masks he looked a lot like his dad now. He wanted to become just as powerful as his dad even more so, he wanted to make sure that all the people that were precious to him were safe and he would train hard to do that. Today had been the best birthday ever and he went off to play ninja with Hinata as they had the ninja dogs to help out as well.

**Next Up Chapter 8: New Kids**


	8. New Kids

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 8: New Kids**

Deep in the depths of the village in an old facility that was once used as the training facility for the once powerful organization ROOT, a group that was the birthplace of ANBU. Although they're methods were seen by many has inhumane and repulsive despite the results they got in how many elite ninja they created. And it was none other than the third Hokage that put an end to ROOT as many of its members were put into disgrace, especially their leader a man only known as Danzo.

He was an older man who was crippled years ago, his leg was shattered and he could barely move it anymore without a cane, then there was the fact that his arm hung uselessly in his robe and half his face was hidden by the bandages and yet despite that he never seemed to care about how his body was mangled. In fact he still had a commanding presence and those that underestimated him soon found out that was the last mistake they would make.

Currently he was overlooking one of the few training areas that were kept in shape. Despite how the place was falling apart because of how little resources they had and personnel that were still loyal to ROOT, the place was a shadow of its former glory. Dirt piled up, whole areas were no longer in use, the place was depressing and cold feeling to it all but that didn't matter to those that worked here. They were ROOT and such little things like that mattered little to those that saw themselves as true shinobi.

Danzo was on a balcony looking as a few of the youths that he still had were put through their training, it was brutal as always with no mercy shown and any hint of emotion was punished. A true ninja had no emotions as they only got in the way, that was the way of ROOT.

"It's been a long time Fugaku," Danzo said feeling the presence of the Uchiha leader coming up behind him.

"Sharp as ever I see," the man said with little emotion as he looked down at the training. The boys and girls were pale from lack of sun and a few looked like they were about to drop dead. But that mattered little to him, this was not his affair. "I've been wondering why you've ignored my request to get rid of the boy."

"The boy is a possible danger of that I agree with you, however...he could also be a powerful weapon in the right hands."

The Uchiha gave him a calculating look, "Is that why you refused to help me get rid of him all those years ago?"

Danzo said nothing for a bit, "Yes, you were too hasty. If the boy does prove to be a danger well I have plans for that, I can already see that one of my students will be the most powerful of this generation and if need be I'll send him against any who are a threat to this village. As for the boy...can you honestly say that a ninja with the power of that fox under the control of this village would be such a bad thing? Image just how powerful he could become."

"That's one of the things I fear that he'll be too powerful one day."

"Fear...or is it that your pride will refuse anyone that is stronger than an Uchiha?" The crippled asked and saw the other man's eyes close slightly in anger.

"Somehow I doubt that you'll get your hands on the boy, his father is not easily killed and he has the protection of the Hokage as well as other Jonins, even that bitch of a student of Orochimaru seems to taken a shine to the boy." Fugaku had never liked Anko Mitarashi, he didn't trust her given who her sensei was and the fact that she had embarrassed his clan with how easily she defeated one of his better ninjas in the Chunin exams. It had been a humiliating defeat for the boy and not only his pride but the pride of his clan had been shamed in front of the entire village and of others.

"Yes that is a shame, I'm surprised how those fools you have aligned with got so close those years ago with the two missing nins."

Uchiha nodded, "So was I, they used a lot of resources to ensure that no other ninja was in the area at the time and had agents in place to make sure no one interfered. They should have hired better men."

Danzo looked to see one of the students drop and he felt disappointment, he had thought that one would last at least a few more hours as the boy was dragged away. The other didn't stop or even look they knew they would be punished if they did.

"Yes well the past is the past and I'm telling you now the boy could be an asset, just give it time. After all you might be surprised by what the boy." Danzo said and then turned and left.

Fugaku knew he was being dismissed and he only got two things out of this, he knew that Danzo wouldn't be an ally but he got the impression that he wouldn't interfere either. He walked back to his home as he thought about the boy. There was a grain of truth that the boy could be a powerful weapon one day but that was only if they could control him and he doubted that. He would have to wait for the opportunity to show itself, when the boy showed the danger he could be.

Then there was the other matter of his oldest son, he just couldn't understand him anymore, he was more and more distance with each day and he couldn't figure it out. His oldest son was the pride of the clan, a testament to how great their clan was and yet he didn't seem to care and that worried the clan head. He honestly had no idea what to do with this son, he could only hope that he could figure something out, he felt a shadow loaming over his son. Like something horrible was going to happen either to him or because of him. He couldn't shake this feeling and that truly was something that kept him up late at night.

**-Park-**

Naruto was in the park with Hinata again, and Naruto was talking about the training his dad was putting him through. He was just now starting on his chakra exercises although he was having some trouble with that. But he just put it off as it was just because it was new to him. He couldn't wait to enter the academy in and start his training to be a real ninja like his dad and the others.

There was one down side, Iruka had told him that he would be teaching now and wouldn't be able to look after him like he used to. Apparently he had been trying to get a job at teaching and had been taking courses and stuff as well as being an assistant teacher. It kind of made Naruto a bit sad knowing that he wouldn't be able to look after him like he used to but Iruka had promised to still see him when he got the chance. He also promised to take Naruto out for ramen the next time he could, which in Naruto's young mind made up for a lot.

One of the things he started to do these days was wear his new mask that Anko gave him for his birthday a few months back all the time like his dad.

Although he still had to take it off to eat and stuff but his dad told him that eventually he would teach him how to eat without anyone seeing him take it off and even now to make a genjustu to make it looked like the mask was still one and just eat normally, although to those around it would look like the food was just going through the mask.

"So Hinata you excited?" he asked her.

"Huh?"

"You said that your mom is going to have another kid right?"

Hinata nodded her head, a couple of months ago she told her about it, Hinata was actually excited about this. She would have a baby brother or sister and she couldn't wait. Although she wasn't sure how babies were born but her mother told her a few things, about how babies grew inside of the mother. At any rate Hinata was happy that her family was growing.

"I bet you're going to be a great big sister," Naruto said smiling.

She blushed a bit, "T-thank you Naruto-kun."

It was then that they heard the yelling and both young children looked to see a group of kids their own age that were being picked on by a few older boys. Naruto glared at the scene he had to deal with bullies himself and so he had a real hatred for that kind of thing. To him bullies got whatever came to them and he also couldn't just sit by and watch this or let it happen.

"Hold on Hinata looks like we're going to have to wait a bit to play."

Hinata's eyes grew as he walked off to the group, she looked around but didn't see any adults around and she was worried that Naruto would get hurt and she didn't want to see him hurt.

The kids in question were two boys and two girls, of the girls there wa a young blonde with short hair named Ino Yamanaka who was with her friend in red with pink hair, Sakura Hanaro. There were two other boys as well, a slightly pudgy kid who was eating named Choji Akimichi and finally a lazy kid that was just looking up at the sky named Shikamaru Nara. The other older kids were just picking on the kids that they had seen although Sakura was still shy and insecure, Ino however was angry that some stupid kids were picking on them just because they were older.

"What's your problems?" Ino yelled out at them.

"Your ugly face Blondie, and maybe with the girl with the freakish forehead there, man did you get hit by the ugly stick or something?"

Sakura was very sensitive about her looks especially her forehead, she did kind of have a slightly larger one and all the kids would make fun of it. It wasn't until Ino came along and became her friend and helped her through her insecurities a bit. Also she started to make more friends lately although she was still learning to have more self confidence like Ino. Hearing those words hurt like hell and she felt the sting of tears in her eyes at the moment.

"You guys are so troublesome," Shikamaru sighed. He was just trying to watch some clouds, he didn't even want to go to the park. It was always too noisy and there were too many trees that got in the way of all the good cloud watching spots. The only reason he was here was because his dad wanted him to spent time with Ino and Choji. Choji he didn't mind, he was a good friend but Ino on the other hand was very bossy and he already had one bossy female in his life. The last thing he needed was someone like his mother, but she was the daughter of his father's best friend and teammate.

When he got here there was that pink haired girl Sakura that Ino had been hanging out with lately. She wasn't so bad, so she was less troublesome than Ino. There was a shadow over him and he looked up to see one of the boys looking over him.

"What was that pineapple head?"

Shikamaru just sighed he just wanted to watch clouds was that so much to ask in life?

"Hey leave him alone you jerk!" Ino yelled out with a raised fist.

"Or what? You going to hit me little girl?" he laughed.

"I think she will, and I think I like to help."

The new voice drew the attention of everyone and there on the slide next to the bully over Shikamaru was a boy sitting on the top. He had on black shorts with an orange shirt with a black spiral symbol on the front. He had strange blue eyes, wild blonde hair and was wearing a mask too.

"Who the hell are you punk?"

The mystery boy just shrugged, "Name's Naruto and you better leave if you know what's good for you."

"Kick the kid's ass!" One of the bully's friend yelled out.

"Yeah and take his mask off, maybe we can make him eat it!" Another yelled.

He looked up at the kid with a grin, "So the big bad 'hero' wants to help out huh? Well come down here then and get a beating."

Naruto grinned under his mask, "Okay if you say so," he then quickly launched himself down the shoot and slammed into the older boy's stomach with his two feet. The boy was launched off the ground from the blow and landed coughing and gasping for breath as the air was knocked out of him. There was a pause as everyone was surprised by the quick move, Naruto got into a basic fighting stance his dad taught him and waved the boys in.

Ino saw how this boy was helping them out and grinned as she saw him drop the older boy. She had no idea who he was but he had style that was for sure, when she noticed the bully next to her was about to move she stomped on his foot, he cried out and then while hoping on one foot she kicked him hard in the shin of the other leg.

The boy fell to the ground holding both legs in pain.

Naruto now only had two boys to deal with as he saw the blonde take out one of the others. The nearest boy tried to grab Naruto, so he grabbed the wrist to the boy and with his other hand jabbed a finger in the right spot in the throat area, just where the rib cage starts there is a small curve and there is a nerve there. He pressed down and the boy's legs gave out in a second. He quickly placed that hand around the back of the neck of the boy and twisted and threw the boy head first into the stomach of the last one.

Naruto was actually surprised how well that move worked, sure he trained with his dad and stuff but that was the first time that he actually used it in real life. If it wasn't for the mask his surprise would have been apparent on his face.

Ino however decided to push it, "Alright you boys want more of a butt kicking? Because only two of us were fighting you want all of us?"

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed, "Why should I get involved?"

"Shut it you lazy jerk!" Ino shouted.

"I'd listen to her if I were you guys," Naruto said crossing his arms over his chest. The bullies decided that being embarrassed by a bunch of kids younger than them was bad enough for the day as they picked themselves up and tried to make a dignified retreat, not that it worked.

Naruto laughed as the boys went away, he noticed the blonde girl walk up to him, "Hey thanks."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled, "hey no problems I hate bullies and I can't stand to see it happen."

"Well thanks, I'm Ino by the way, this is Sakura, the lazy boy on the floor is Shikamaru and the kid that is still eating is Choji," Ino said pointing everyone out.

"Cool, I'm Naruto and this is...uh...hold on," they watched the boy look around and then seemed to find someone behind the slide. "Come on out, it's okay Hinata."

He pulled out a girl with short hair and pearl like eyes who seemed very nervous as she was looking down at the ground and fidgeting with her fingers. Ino could already see this girl was like Sakura, actually maybe a bit worse off so.

"This is my very best friend Hinata, well say hello."

"Oh! Uh...h-h-hello." She gave a small bow to the group.

"So you guys want to join us?" Ino asked and both kids faces lit up at that, she had no way of knowing that they had no other friends and this was the first time they were asked to join in. They gathered up together to get to know each other. Naruto was sitting next to Hinata of course but he took a place next to a nice looking pink haired girl as well. Shikamaru was laying down looking up at the clouds but still in the circle, and Choji and Ino finished it off.

"So I got to ask...why the mask?" Ino asked Naruto.

He just shrugged, "My aunt Anko gave it to me on my birthday, and my dad wears one and he told me that his dad wore one too. So...well it's kind of like family tradition, besides I think it looks cool and I am going to be a ninja like my dad too."

"So you're from a ninja family?" Sakura asked, her family didn't have many ninjas in it. In fact the last ninja was her grandfather and her father who used to be but he retired soon after she was born, something about wanting to see her grow up and not wanting to miss out on it.

"Yep! And so it Hinata too, we're going to join the ninja academy as soon as we can."

"Cool so am I, my dad as well as lazy boy and Choji here come from ninja families too." Ino said smiling.

Hinata looked to Sakura, "W-what about you? Are you going t-too?"

Sakura had been thinking about it, all her friends were going to join up and she wanted to follow in the path of her family as well. She had no idea what else she did want to do with her life and she kind of would like to carry on the family tradition. "Yes I think I am."

"Of course she is and she'll be a good one too," Ino smiled at her friend who blushed a bit.

"Hey you want a snack?" Choji asked Naruto and he did consider it.

But he didn't want to pull his mask down, with family it was okay and maybe Hinata too since she actually knew what his face looked like. "I'm good but thanks, so do you guys want to play?"

That day both Hinata and Naruto made four new friends that day, Hinata was shy but she soon found a friend in Sakura and Ino especially since they were the first female friends that she ever made. Naruto finally had more friends to play with as well, and even though Shikamaru liked to look at the sky he did play when you finally motivated him to do it.

Everything was going really well too, Naruto kind of like the new friends he made. Choji seemed to like food and he told the boy about the best ramen stand in town while he told Naruto about the best BBQ place as well. He watched clouds with Shikamaru for a bit as he picked out shapes out of the clouds, Ino was kind of bossy but he didn't mind. Sakura was very nice as well, she was kind of like Hinata but after a bit she seemed to open up to them.

Unfortunately three adults came walking up, a large man, a man with scars on his face and a man with long blonde hair. "Hey kids, time to go home." The blonde one said.

"Aww, Daddy we were having fun with our new friends," Ino whined.

Ino's father looked to see the two new faces, he knew a Hyuga when he saw one although it was strange to see one playing with other kids. He didn't see any seal on the kid's forehead either so that might mean she was either too young or a main branch member which was even stranger.

"So who are these two then?" The large man asked as Choji went up to his dad.

"I'm Naruto Hatake and this is Hinata Hyuga," Naruto said smiling up at the adults hoping they would be nice. Sometimes some adults looked at him strangely and he didn't like how they looked at him.

"Hatake..." Shikaku Nara said looking at the boy. 'Huh...must be Kakashi's kid, with that mask it must be. Heard rumours of him being some kind of monster or something but what the hell kind of 'monster' could be a kid?'

"He's pretty nice, although a bit loud," Shikamaru sighed.

"Well then glad that you met some new friends Ino," Inoichi said to his daughter, "Sakura we're suppose to walk you home today since your dad is a bit busy with work today."

Sakura nodded and went with her best friend and her dad but looked back towards Naruto and Hinata, "Goodbye and I hope to see you both around later too."

Hinata had on a small smile at being accepted by someone else, while Naruto had on a huge on under his mask that always seemed to show despite it being covered. "See you later Sakura, Ino, Choji and Shikamaru! We'll see you again here another day!"

"This is great Hinata we got more friends to play with, this is great!" Naruto jumped excited he couldn't wait to tell his dad. Hinata nodded her head, she was still shy around them but they made her feel better, less lonely in fact. All in all for the two of them it was a great day as the sun was setting it looked like it was getting dark.

"Hey Hinata you want me to walk you home?" Naruto said seeing how dark it was getting.

She blushed a bit, "Uh...Y-you don't have to do that Naruto-kun."

"Oh come on I never get to see your home and it's getting late and it might rain. My dad's off on a mission and might not be back home until it's late anyway. So come on, let's go," He grabbed her hand making her blush very red as she felt kind of strange. She felt like her stomach was fluttering or something and was feeling very warm.

She didn't understand why she got like that but in a strange way it was kind of nice too as Naruto nearly dragged her home.

**-Uchiha Compound-**

Itachi Uchiha should have been a happy person, here he was the youngest member to make ANBU Captain, a prodigy and pride of his whole clan, someone that many admired and respected. But was he happy? The thing was he could rarely remember being truly happy in life, things just came too easily to him. There was no challenge here and the only amusement was from his best (and only friend) Shisui, but that wasn't much. In fact sometimes he wondered why he was friends with him at all but there was just something about him that he actually liked. It was hard for him, he couldn't really relate to anyone these days, the closest were maybe his little brother and his best friend.

He mentally sighed walking the halls, he felt like his talents were being wasted, he was said to be the strongest ninja in the clan and maybe soon in the whole village but what did that truly mean? Was there anyone out there that could pose a challenge to him? It was so dull to just cut through his enemies so easily, it was almost maddening actually. He came to the outdoors training area only to see his little brother training again, only he noticed a bit more of a fire burning in his little brother. This actually peeked his interests as he walked over to him.

The punching block looked like it was nearly about to start splintering a little, and his brother's knuckles seemed to be bleeding a bit. "So what's gotten you into such a state?" He calmly asked.

Sasuke was surprised, not noticing his older brother until that moment. "It's nothing."

Itachi raised a single eyebrow at this, "I don't believe that for a second."

Sasuke was silent for a moment, "I want to be better than you..."

"Oh?"

"Everyone looks at you, everyone sees you but me...I might as well be a ghost," Sasuke's anger filled him a bit and his older brother saw the look of anger in his eyes.

'Interesting...' Itachi looked at the board and then to his little brother. Itachi believed that emotions were a weakness that needed to be either controlled for cut out of you. They only hindered you, but apparently his little brother was starting to improve a little on his training with his anger. 'If this is anger then I wonder what a stronger emotion like hatred would do? Which is stronger, no emotions or filled with them?'

It was an interesting question to Itachi, which would make the better ninja? He looked at his little brother and decided that he would watch his progress and see how this would affect his brother, to see if maybe one day he could be an equal to him. After all out of all the clan members it was Sasuke that trained the hardest and the most. If anyone even had a chance it would be his little brother.

"Well then give them a reason to see you," Itachi said to a surprised Sasuke, "You're an Uchiha so start acting like one, you want to prove your worth then get stronger. Because what is the point of power if you can't use it?"

With that he left and heard the sounds of his little brother training harder than before. He almost smirked at the sounds. But he quickly put that away, after all he had other things to do now, being an ANBU Captain meant a lot of work and he had a lot to do now. Although there was one thing that was troubling him, there were rumours of some missing nins that were dressed in black cloaks and had red clouds on them. It was a strange design but the three that were mentioned seemed to be class S ninjas, it was something he would look into after all, it was odd to have missing nins acting as though part of some group.

Normally they were loners but this group was somewhat odd, plus maybe they would give him the challenge to test his power out.

**Next up chapter 9: Demon Knight**


	9. Demon Knight

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 9: Demon Knight**

Naruto managed to get Hinata back to the Hyuga compound before the sun fully went down. He got to the front gate as two of the branch family members stood guard and gave him a curious look as the heir to the clan was being led by a small blonde boy in a mask. They stopped at them as he looked up at them, he didn't know why but a lot of Hyugas did kind of looked alike kind of like aunty Anko had said a few times.

"Hinata-sama," one of the guards greeted her and casting calculating looks as Naruto.

Naruto bowed her head to them, "H-hello, this is N-Naruto Hatake and he's a good friend of mine."

They both nodded as they stood apart and gave them room, "Of course Lady Hinata, your guest is welcome."

Naruto gave them a small look with his arms behind his head as he walked in like he owed the place with Hinata; he looked around forgetting about the stuffy guards and finally saw Hinata's home. The place had huge walls so he never got to see inside of it but this place was huge. His eyes widened in surprise at all of this, there were houses all over the place, gardens, small bonds and everything looked perfect. There were a lot of Hyugas as well as they cast sidelong glances at them.

"Wow Hinata, this place is huge...so this is what a clan home is like?" he asked her and she nodded her head, "Huh...maybe I should call you Hinata-hime, after all you're like a princess since your dad is a clan head and all and this place it like a small country."

Of course he was exaggerating a bit with the size but that didn't stop Hinata from getting a deep red blush at the thought of his new 'nickname' for her. She looked down at her feet not trusting herself to look at him, whenever she was around him she felt like she mattered. She knew that she wasn't the strongest in her clan and that she was viewed as too gentle but she couldn't help it, it was just who she was.

"Hinata-sama," she was broken out of her thoughts by a voice and was surprised to see who it was.

To Naruto it looked like just another Hyuga with long hair, although he seemed to be a bit older then the two of them, maybe by a year or so.

"Lady Hannah saw you arriving and wished for me to bring you and your guest to her," the boy said to them.

"How did she see us?" Naruto asked and the boy gave him a strange look.

"With her eyes, you don't know of the Byakugan?"

Naruto thought about it and thought about what his dad taught him over the years. "Oh wait is that one of those bloodline things? Oh so is _that_ why all you guys have those cool eyes? Hey Hinata how come you haven't shown me that?"

"I...I h-haven't been able to activate it y-yet," she looked disappointed in that. Normally someone from the clan would have been able to do it a year ago but she was still struggling with it. She felt weak and she knew she was a slight disappointment to her father who was the head of the clan.

"I'm sure you'll do it Hinata just keep at it right...uh...sorry I didn't get your name," Naruto blushed a bit at the boy.

"It's Neji Hyuga."

"Cool, I'm Naruto Hatake nice to meet yah." Naruto stuck out his hand to the boy who looked at it for a moment before shaking it.

Neji was just surprised by this Naruto person, he was the complete opposite to Hinata-sama in every way. He was loud, energetic and outgoing. His shy cousin was a stark contrast and he had to wonder how these two had become friends. At any rate he started to lead them through the complex to where the main branch lived. He knew the place well since his father lived here and so did he because of it.

" Your mother is in the study Hinata-sama," Neji said as he led them.

"Y-you know you don't h-have to call me that, we are family."

"You are?" Naruto was surprised at this.

"H-he's my cousin."

"Hey cool! I don't got any other family other then my dad and then there's the Old Man, my crazy 'aunt' and 'uncle' and there's Iruka. But I got no family around my own age, how come you don't come out and play with us Neji?" Naruto asked the slightly older boy.

Neji was surprised by the question, it just wasn't his place to just play with someone from the main branch, although he didn't hate Hinata or anything after all she was just too nice to hate. But it was kind of an unwritten rule about how main and branch members had to interact. "It's just not the way things are done in this clan."

Naruto made a face behind his mask, "well that's just stupid. I mean do you have others to play with?"

In fact Neji didn't really, he trained a lot and he had his studies. Plus he helped out around the compound there weren't many children their own age here anyway so he just tried to fill in his time. "Well..."

Naruto smiled at that, "good you can play with us then and to hell with the stupid rules right Hinata?"

"Uh..uh...well...I..."

"Come on you like Neji right and shouldn't family stick together?" He said.

"It's just that I have a lot of training to do," Neji supplied seeing that Hinata was in a bind and so to give Naruto something in order to drop the matter.

Naruto thought about it as they walked on and then an idea hit him, "Hey since Hinata and me are going into the ninja academy soon why don't we train together? I mean you're most likely ahead of us anyway and you can help us, you can sharpen your skills on us and we can still spend time together."

Neji just didn't know how to get around this kid, it was like every time he figured something out he would find another way. He sighed trying to think of something else, although he kind of liked the idea of training with others there was only so much he could do on his own. But he was worried what his uncle would think of this, and then there was his father and all the others. The main branch just didn't train with the other branches but Naruto didn't seem to care.

He just blew out a sigh, "We'll...we'll see about that."

He hoped that giving him something that wasn't a yes or a no would get him off this. Naruto nodded and Neji was glad that was over with, with luck the boy would forget about this.

They arrived in the study, which was larger than any room in Naruto's home other than the training room they had. It was filled with books and scrolls and there sitting there was Hinata's mother, she had a tea set next to her as she had been reading something. She smiled at the three of them as she gave Neji a nod to let him know that he could go, he returned it and that left the two kids alone.

"So how was your day children?" she asked.

"I-It was good mother."

Naruto threw his hands behind his head grinning widely, "It was great, we met some new kids and made some new friends!"

Hannah Hyuga was happy to hear that they were making more friends, "Well Naruto that's very nice to hear, and thank you for walking Hinata-chan home as well."

"Aw it was nothing my dad's off on a mission today and might not be back until much later anyway. Besides I got to finally see inside of this place and it's awesome. Plus Hinata's cousin was nice to meet if kind of weird. But he said that he'd let us train together since he's too busy to play and all."

Hinata wanted to correct Naruto that Neji didn't actually agree he said that he would think about it. Her mother got an interested look on her face as she thought about it. In truth it couldn't hurt, she knew that her husband used to be very close to his brother before he had to take on the duties as head of the clan. He had to act a certain way and although he never said it, she knew that he sometimes missed how close he used to be with Hizashi but he could never show it.

Sometimes being a Hyuga meant a lot of personal sacrifice but at least Hizashi didn't resent his older twin Hiashi. So Hannah got to thinking that maybe having the three of them spend time with Neji might help with forging a stronger bond between the main and branch houses. She knew that there was a major rift between the two and this might help strengthen it, and in Hinata she saw someone that the branch house members couldn't hate. She had seen how Hinata treats everyone with respect and for branch members that had seen the ugly side of certain main branch members it was a welcome change.

"Well I think that is good idea, I'll speak with Neji's father about that and set something up," Hannah said.

"Great!" Naruto nearly jumped and Hinata's eyes widened, she hadn't expected that but it would be nice to spend time with her cousin. She barely saw him and at times she wished that he was an older brother back before her mother was pregnant.

"Well I guess I'll be off then," Naruto made for the door.

"Naruto since you walked my daughter home why don't you stay for supper?"

Naruto stopped in place, "Huh? You serious?"

"Always, besides my husband is entertaining an envoy from the hidden village of Cloud tonight and I don't feel like showing up to that. So it will just be the three of us."

Hannah didn't trust the Cloud ninja that had been sent on a mission to improve relations with their village. He had been going around to all the clans and although he was nothing but civil there was something about the man that made her uneasy. That and the fact that with her new cravings she tended to need food that was a bit odd especially for an envoy to see her eat. Besides she and her husband agreed that Hinata was too young to attend such functions and she would look after her.

Naruto thought about this and shrugged, he was kind of hungry and it was better than eating alone so he agreed happily to join them for dinner.

**-Later that night-**

"Well I must thank you for the wonderful dinner and for your hospitality Hyuga-sama," said a man wearing the symbol of the Cloud Village on his forehead protector as he was talking to Hiashi as they left the dinning room.

"It is my honor to host a guest to the village. I know that our two villages have not gotten along well in the past," he said to the other man.

Akira the ninja from Cloud nodded, "Which is why I was sent on this mission to help reastablish ties with this village. Konoha has grown since the last war and from even the defeat of one of the multi-tailed demons as well. Not an easy feat, so we felt it wise to strengthen our association with this village as it seems to be graining strength."

Hiashi nodded, "Well then one of my people will show you to the room we set aside for you for the night."

"Thank you once again for the hospitality." Akira told him as he was shown the way to the room.

Akira had spent a lot of time gathering information on the major clans of Konoha and especially those with blood line abilities. The Village of Cloud didn't have as many with those special abilities and they needed more in order to stand up to other villages. So he had been looking for one to steal away so their own village would have a new powerful bloodline limit. The question was with who and that was the problem. He had chosen to take one of the powerful ones and that left only two clans, the Uchiha's and the Hyuga's. The Uchiha's were very powerful but the problem was that the only ones that had activated their abilities were adults and thus a lot harder to kidnap and smuggle out let alone just steal the eyes right from out of their heads.

There was an added problem and that was of Itachi, his name had reached even his village's ears and he didn't particularly like the idea of facing him and if he did attack their clan he had no doubt they would send him after him. That left the Hyuga clan and he could see they were definitely born with their special eyes it only took time to activate it at a young age.

While talking with the clan head and others in the village using a hedge to appear as someone else he found out that there was a possibility in the young Hinata girl. She was the daughter of the clan head who was said to be powerful but she seemed to be a shy and kind girl, in other words not one to put up much of a fight. He would have preferred a boy since if he could get a boy back then they would start with the brainwashing and make him into a Cloud ninja. Then they could use him with the strongest females ninjas to make a whole new generation of strong ninjas with that bloodline limit.

She same could be done with the girl, she would be taken, her mind twisted into a loyal servant of Cloud and she would be mated with the strongest warriors. Her children would make for excellent ninjas even if it was a slower process.

And if things really went wrong, well he knew enough medical ninjustu to take the eyes out intake. Although the person would most likely not survive he could have the eyes and they could implant them or study them to see how they worked. Either way they would gain power or knowledge on their rivals.

When he was sure that the guards from outside the window had gone out of sight on their rolling patrol he slipped out into the shadows. He had been taking note of the complex and had been trying to figure out which room belonged to the girl he had chosen to take. It wouldn't be easy, but there were other Cloud ninjas that had managed to sneak in as merchants all he had to do was get to them. They had a cart with a false bottom and they could keep the child there as they were smuggled out.

The real trick was trying to find the girl, he had eliminated many of the rooms during his tour and only one floor that was used for the sleeping quarters. So he started there, he found one room that looked to be a nursery being built as he knew that Hiashi's wife was expecting another child. The next looked empty but it was the next one that he found the girl. She looked like she was getting ready for bed, he would have to be quick and fast with the girl.

Naruto was walking home, it was late and he hoped he got back before his dad did, he really didn't want to explain why he had been out so late so if he got back before him than he would be none the wiser. Besides it was a nice night out anyway and he was making his way around the compound, it just by pure chance and luck that he took that way that night. One of those decisions that at the time a person doesn't know will affect their future, call it fate, call it blind stupid luck, call it what you will. But when he chose to go this way it set him up for a night that would change him.

That is if he survived.

But Naruto didn't know any of this, he was just minding his own business when he saw a shadow leap on top of the wall and then jump down not far from him. He looked like a ninja to him with some kind of shack over his shoulder, at first he thought it was just another Hyuga. Then he noticed the sack was moving a lot.

"Hey mister what's in the bag?" Naruto asked.

"Damn it," the Cloud ninja hadn't seen the boy, he had been so worried about the rest of the clan seeing him he missed the boy. It didn't help that the boy wore a lot of black and add the night and the boy nearly blended in.

"Help!" Came a crying voice.

Naruto's eyes widened at that voice because he knew it, even without the stutter. "What are you doing with Hinata-chan!"

"Stupid kid, you saw too much," the Cloud ninja threw several shurikens at the boy.

Naruto saw them and dodged them easily enough, he dodged another set and smiled. He didn't know what this ninja was up to but he was obviously kidnapping Hinata. He wouldn't let him, he would save her. He was proud of how well he was dodging the weapons, if only his dad could see him now. Then suddenly a pain hit his chest and he stopped confused as his body refused to move.

He was wondering why his body was suddenly to hard to move but he managed to look down. He was confused for a moment because there was a kunai in his chest. He didn't see him throw a kunai so where did it come from? Then his mind registered that he was bleeding now, he put a hand to his chest and felt the warm blood almost like he couldn't understand why this was happening. His legs finally gave out and he sank to his knees.

Akira smirked at how stupid the boy was, he hadn't known that those throwing stars were just a diversion to get set him up for a kunai throw. The shurikens although could be lethal demanded you hit a few vital areas and he needed to be sure the boy was killed a kunai to the chest would do that. So when the boy was just dodged his second volley after he judged his speed he threw his kunai at his full speed unlike the shurikens that had been about half his speed.

He turned around ready to go and leave the boy to die.

For Naruto he felt time slow down as his blood was leaking out of his wound. He was starting to feel a bit cold and his vision was starting to blur. He could still hear Hinata calling for help and he tried to move but his body wouldn't listen.

'_I failed...I failed to protect...her...why...why do I have to be so weak?'_ Naruto asked himself he remembered when the ninja took him and how afraid he had been. Gai had saved him that day, and here was Hinata in that same moment but where was the person to save her? He was here but he couldn't do anything.

'_I...I can't die...I have to save her...I...don't want...to die...not yet...I CAN'T DIE YET!'_

Naruto looked at the ninja knowing that he would hurt Hinata, he wanted to hurt him instead. Images of Hinata flew into his mind. Of the day they first met, how happy he was to finally find a friend, to his birthday, to all the days she had been with him. She made him less alone, she made him happy and he liked it when she smiled. And now she was going to be taken away from him, from her family, from her home.

Naruto looked at the ninja with hatred, pure hatred. He had never hated anyone so much in his life. He felt warmer now, like there was a fire building up inside of him.

'_**Hate.'**_ A voice called out to him.

'_**Punish.'**_ Again the voice it was deep and seemed to growl out the words.

'_**KILL!'**_

And then Naruto roared.

All around Konoha the chakra was felt, from the further places that were from the Hyuga home people stirred in their sleep, some woke up to feelings of dread. The closer you got the more intense the sensation. People bolted from their beds in cold sweats, children woke up crying wondering what that scary feeling was. The adults however knew, they had all felt that chakra before, that dreaded killing intent was burned into their memories and into their nightmares of several years ago.

The night that the Demon came to them, a living nightmare that left its mark on them all, and now they were feeling it again. Many were so scared that the Demon had returned that they couldn't move remembering that horrible night. Others who hadn't been at the battle who had been away when it came or from civilians that had moved in after the battle were never as scared as they were that night.

The Hokage bolted out of his bed and rushed to his window, he could feel it in his bones and he alone knew what was happening and that it was coming from the Hyuga compound, he quickly left to gather his ANBU and anyone else he could find. At the Uchiha estate Fugaku just stared out his window in fear, the day that he had feared might have just happened, that the demon fox had found a way out of his prison. For Itachi he was frozen in awe for a moment, he had never felt such power before.

It was like it was pure power, true power, a force of nature itself. And a small part of him was drawn to it, that finally he had found a power greater than his and he liked it, a power that great in his hands sent his mind racing with endless possibilities.

In the Hyuga compound they all woke up to the power of the chakra and the killing intent coming off it. Hiashi Hyuga knew this chakra as well, he activated his eyes trying to find the source of it all. He felt the hand of his wife on his arm gripping it, "Hiashi..."

"I know..." He tried to steady his voice as he searched and then he found it. Out by the wall there were two figures, no wait...three. One of them was in a bag and...

"Hinata!"

"What? What about Hinata!" his wife shouted but she didn't get an answer as her husband grabbed a robe and jumped through the window.

Back with Akira the Cloud ninja he was frozen in place as he looked at horror at the child. There was actually chakra coming off the boy in levels that he only thought a Kage would have. There was so much he could actually see it but that wasn't what scared him, the chakra wasn't normal. It was red and it swirled around the boy looking like it was alive. Then the boy's eyes looked at him and he knew that the boy's eyes had changed. He couldn't remember what they originally looked like but there was no way he could miss those eyes. They were red and had slits like an animal's but there was something else in those eyes.

There was this untamed fury in them, like a predator that wanted to punish and kill.

"God...what are you..." He whispered out.

Naruto didn't hear him, he was in a haze of anger, fury, rage and blood lust. He pulled the kunai out of his chest and threw it with inhuman speed sending it into the man's shoulder. He cried out as he dropped the bag with Hinata in it, and the next thing he knew the boy was next to him. The speed was impossible for a boy that age, then with Naruto's clawed hands he slashed the man's face.

He screamed in pain as half his face was clawed, but Naruto didn't stop he punched him in the chest and he was sent into the brick wall. It dented and his bones shattered, and Naruto kept on going. He wanted to hurt this man, he wanted to kill him. He began to punch the man and wasn't stopping, his prey tried to put up an arm to defend himself but it was broken after several hits.

"You. Will. Not. Hurt. Hinata-chan. AGAIN!" he shouted out between punches.

"Naruto!"

The voice of Hinata snapped him out of it and he looked over at the struggling bag. He weakly walked over to it as he tried to get the bag opened. He finally did to find the crying form of Hinata in there. She looked up scared at him and Naruto felt the anger leave him, he felt the fire in his blood slowly drain.

"N-Naruto-K-Kun?" she sniffled.

"Yeah...are...are you okay?" Naruto asked and she nodded her head. "That's good...I'm glad that...you're...okay..."

Naruto collapsed there onto the ground and Hinata noticed all the blood on his chest and the hole in it.

"Naruto!" she cried out.

**Next Up Chapter 10: Between Life and Death**


	10. Between Life and Death

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 10: Between Life and Death**

Hinata was crying over Naruto's bloody body when her father landed, he looked over the scene as he looked at the motionless Cloud ninja also there; the man looked like a wild animal had torn into him. There was a slash mark on his face that looked like it had destroyed one of the eyes, his face was bloody and bruised his arm was hanging in a way that wasn't natural either.

He looked at the young boy and the blood soaked clothing and he had to wonder just what kind of strength this young boy had to do that to a ninja.

Hinata looked up, her eyes all red and puffy from crying, she had blood on her clothing and a bruise on her face obviously someone had hit her in order to stun her. His blood ran cold at the thought of someone going after his family like that.

"F-f-father please help him!" she cried out to him.

He knelt down as his brother and a few of the guards landed onto the scene too. Hizashi Hyuga looked over the scene with shock on his face at the other ninja. He bent down and checked for a pulse, "This one is still alive."

Hiashi nodded his head as he checked on Naruto, he didn't think the boy was still alive with that hole in his chest but when he checked he was shocked to see that he was still breathing, he had a heart beat but it was feint he had lost too much blood as it was. He ripped part of his robe as he pushed it against the wound to slow the blood loss.

"The boy is still alive! Send for the healers and send someone to the Hatake home, Kakashi will want to know about his son as soon as he can," although he didn't know that Kakashi was on a mission at the moment he knew that his brother could be trusted to make sure that no matter what Kakashi knew of this.

His brother was already issuing orders when a group of ANBU suddenly appeared and the Hokage himself came into the scene. All of them had rushed to this area as fast as they could the Hokage was even a bit out of breath. It was times like this he hated being old, but he didn't let such things keep him down. He looked at the scene and he could already guess at what happened but he had to ask, "Hyuga-sama what happened here?"

"I'm unsure but that man there was a guest in my home, but there was a large chakra spike and I found the boy fighting him who had my daughter in that bag over that. But the boy is losing blood and needs a medical ninja here fast or he might not live." Hiashi quickly explained.

The Hokage moved to get a clearer look at Naruto and he was shocked to see such an injury, "Take that man to the hospital but under guard. He is to have no contact other then medical staff or myself is that clear?" he commanded to the ANBU who nodded their heads.

One of the ANBU stopped for a moment to look at the young boy, for a moment it was like the ninja was trying to look into Naruto as through to try and make sense of him. But he quickly went back to work as they carefully pried the ninja off the wall and they carried him away. The Hokage helped to carry Naruto into the Hyuga compound to the nearest room. The old man looked at the young boy with fear in his heart, he knew that the life of a ninja was a hard one and yet this young boy wasn't even a ninja yet and could die tonight.

He had seen a lot of death in his life, seen a lot of hardships but to watch a young boy that he knew and cared for like another grandchild dying was hard to take. Thoughts came back to his new grandchild Konohamaru, and how it would be to lose him like this. Quickly he and Hiashi stripped off his shirt and although the wound wasn't bleeding much he was still in danger. A sniffled caught their attention and they both turned to see a wide eyed and very frightened Hinata looking at them.

"This is not a sight for you to see daughter, get out now." Hiashi commanded his daughter who flinched but actually didn't move.

Just then his wife came into the room and a hand went to her mouth at the sight of Naruto. The young boy had only had a meal with them not that long ago and there he was with a bloody chest.

"Hannah please take our daughter from here," Hiashi told her.

Hannah agreed with this, this was not something her daughter should see. She took hold of her daughter's shoulders and started to lead her out of the room. They left as two of the healers that worked at the compound ran into the room and closed the door behind them. Hinata couldn't stand it anymore, she turned around and buried her face into her mother's robes and cried her heart out. She had been so scared and then Naruto had saved her and now he might be dying.

Naruto was her first and best friend, he always made her happy and feel better about herself and now because she couldn't fight he had gotten hurt. Hannah only held her daughter trying to sooth her as much as possible. Hinata still could see the blood all over Naruto's body when she closed her eyes and she felt totally helpless.

Hannah cradled her child, every cry brought pain to her heart. She had never heard her daughter cry like this. "It will be okay Hinata, I'm sure he'll be okay they're in there now making sure of that."

"B-b-but w-what if...w-what if..." She chocked out.

"Something tells me that boy won't give up and you shouldn't give up on him either," she said to her and Hinata nodded but she still cried. They waited for over an hour until the doors slid open and her father and the Hokage came out looking tired as were the medical ninjas.

She looked up at them with hope and dread not sure if Naruto was alive or dead. The Hokage looked down at her and he gave her a small smile and a nod of his head. Hinata's eyes watered up knowing that Naruto was alive and rushed to his room to see him. Hannah came up to them also relieved to hear see that the boy had survived.

"How is he?" she asked them.

"The boy seems to just refuse to die," her husband said in a neutral tone but she knew that for him that was actually a joke. She hadn't spent years with him not knowing how he hid his humor at times.

"Thanks to his 'guest' that is inside of him Naruto's healing abilities are greater than normal. He should have been killed by that kunai but he still lived." The Hokage smiled shaking his head at the boy, "he's full of surprises. The wound is closed but the medics want to take him to a hospital tomorrow but he's out of the woods. He has lost a lot of blood and is suffering from chakra exhaustion so it will take him time to recover."

"That is good to know," Hannah looked at the doors to the room, "If he hadn't been there I don't know what would have happened to Hinata..."

Her husband nodded his head, he hadn't been sure of the Hatake boy. He may have been a bit weary of him but after tonight he had a lot to think on.

Hinata meanwhile walked into the room as the medics were packing up. She saw how his chest was all bandaged up and the red stain on the center of it all. He looked kind of pale and he had his mask off, she saw it there in a pile of his clothing and picked it up. She walked over to the small bed of the unused guest room and sat down next to him. She felt a few tears again and touched his hand gently, she held his hand hoping that he could feel it.

He just sat there looking at him, watching over him holding his hand in one hand and his mask in another.

"Hinata-sama," came a gentle tone and she looked over to see Neji there. "You should get some sleep after all that's happened."

Neji had come to check on her, after what he had felt and seen with his eyes he had been worried. He looked over at Naruto puzzled by the boy. He hadn't developed his bloodline as well as an adult but he had felt that power. It literally had sent chills through his bones and he couldn't believe that this boy had been the source of it all. He saw the blood on the bandages and his early assessment of Naruto was obviously wrong.

There was something different about Naruto, he wasn't normal that was for sure. A kid like him and taken out a full fledged ninja that was something that Neji could admit that he couldn't do. _'Who are you Naruto Hatake? What is this power you have?'_

"I...I don't want to leave," Hinata said and Neji was surprised. Normally she would just do whatever someone asked plus she hadn't stuttered.

"He needs someone here...and...and I want to be here for him..."

Neji nodded his head as he sat down in the room, "Then I'll help."

She looked up at him and smiled as he gave a small one in return. He looked at the boy noticing the strange marks on his face, they seemed to be mirrored on his mask and Neji wondered if this was the sign of some bloodline like his eyes, and wondered if Naruto's father had the same marks.

**-Mindscape-**

Naruto had no idea where he was, he felt wet and cold. He groaned as he pushed himself out of some water thankfully it wasn't deep. He looked around it looked like it was underground with pipes and stuff. It was dark and dank and he really didn't like it. He sat on a dry area out of the water as he looked around.

"Where am I? The last thing I remember was..." he bolted up remembering the fight with the ninja that had taken Hinata. He remembered dodging the shuriken and then a pain in his chest...then he remembered that he had been STABBED!

He looked at his chest and there didn't seem to be any damaged which was weird. "Am...Am I dead?"

Naruto looked around again, if this was the afterlife then it was a major let down. If this was heaven then were was everyone? That led to the question if this wasn't heaven then that only left one other place and he didn't want to think about that. He walked on trying to see where he was and what was going on. He eventually found himself at a dead end with large bared caged with a simple piece of paper that read 'Seal' on it.

"Great...I wonder if that's the way out?" He muttered and started to walk closer to see what was on the other side. It was really dark and he couldn't make anything out, he thought he heard something as he got closer to the bars and then he saw there was something inside of it, something really big. Two large glowing eyes just seemed to pop out of the darkness.

Naruto jumped back as giant claws nearly hit him as they were stopped by the bars.

"_**So this is my jailor...how pathetic."**_

"W-What?"

"_**Stupid boy if you only knew what you really were."**_

"What do you mean?"

"_**Take of this seal and I'll show you."**_

Naruto looked at the seal and then at what was behind the bars, he could feel the anger and hatred coming off of it. He really didn't want to let it out and felt that if he did it wouldn't be a good thing. He couldn't totally make out what it was but there was a red glow coming off it now and Naruto backed away a bit more.

"I think I'll pass on that."

The thing roared and smashed against the cage making Naruto jump, _**"You little brat! Open up this cage you can't keep me a prisoner forever! One day I will get my freedom again and I'll finish what I started all those years ago."**_

Naruto wasn't sure what he was talking about but he was threatening the village and he wouldn't stand for that, "The hell with that! I don't know who or what you are but I'll protect my village!"

"_**You? Ha! You couldn't protect that girl without my help,"**_ the creature laughed at him.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked angrily.

"_**Fool, it's me that makes all your injuries heal so fast. Didn't you ever wonder why you heal the way you do? And how else could you survive a kunai in the chest? The only reason you are alive is because I need you alive but the day that chances I will no longer need to keep you alive brat."**_

Naruto had no idea what was going on, he was getting nothing but questions as this thing kept on talking. He never really gave it much thought why he healed like he did, he had figured that he just healed fast and left it like that, did he really heal faster than normal? Plus why did this thing need to keep him alive?

"Who the hell are you, and why do you need me alive?" Naruto shouted at the cage.

He only got a laugh in response, _**"You'll find out soon enough brat, but I think you're waking up now. But know this...we WILL meet again."**_

"The hell does that mean? What do you mean waking up and why the hell can't you give me a straight answer!?"

But he didn't get his answer, it seemed like the world around him shifted and he was back in the blackness. He felt tired, aching and really heavy for a moment as his mind tried to focus. He managed to open his eyes he was confused for a moment as he was trying to make out what he was looking at, it was a ceiling but not one he was familiar with. He tried to get up but his chest really hurt and he grunted as he fell back down.

There was a small muttering and a shifting on his left, and he found that his arm had gone numb. He looked and saw a familiar set of hair on his arm. He blinked wondering why Hinata was sleeping with her head on his arm like that. Then his eyes widened that it was Hinata there, the last thing he remembered was the ninja taking her and a few other things. He looked at his chest to see his shirt was gone and blood soaked bandages over his chest.

"My dad is going to be pissed..." he muttered.

"Only a little," Kakashi said from his place silently.

Naruto looked to his right to see his dad sitting in a chair, "Hey...how long you've been there dad?"

"Long enough," he sighed and walked over to him it was obvious that he was worried about him. "Don't try to move okay? You are very lucky Naruto you nearly died last night."

"Sorry to make you worry dad...but I had to do something...I didn't want her to get hurt..."

Kakashi nodded and ruffled his hair a little, scenes of that mission with Obito and Rin came flashing back. He had gone on ahead while Obito had gone back to save Rin. He always wondered how things would have worked out if he had gone back with his friend instead of moving on and then changing his mind and then going back. Naruto hadn't even hesitated and had gone to defend the young girl.

"I know son...I'm proud of you. Now get some sleep, we'll move you to a hospital later so you can rest up."

"Okay...man I had the weirdest dream too, I better not dream of that cage and that thing in there again," Naruto said before he fell asleep leaving Kakashi wondering just what he was talking about.

**-Later that day-**

There were some things that the Hokage hated about this job, the paperwork was one of them. Then you had to spend all day making up missions and trying to figure out who went where, he also would have to keep his training up, and a lot of other little things that ate up a lot of his free time. Sometimes he was so tried he just didn't want to get out of bed but he had a job to do.

Now he was doing another thing he hated, talking to the council.

The council room was packed as many had spent the day in near panic when they felt the Kyuubi's chakra. Many had known what they had felt and there was much confusion going on, since the majority of them had thought that the fox was dead. Now he was in a tight spot, many of the clan heads knew the secret but there was no way to hide things now. There were some new faces as the civilian leaders were also present, when there were things that dealt with the civilian population there was a group that dealt with that.

Mainly they kept things like the businesses running, the regular schools and other things that the civilian population, this was known as the administrative council, or the 'lower' council by some members of the main council that was made up of the various ninja clans. At the moment many were in a panic over what had happened last night and there was still the fact that somehow the Cloud village had known they had one of their own in the hospital, which meant they had Cloud spies as there was an official group from Cloud.

It was just one headache after another it seemed today.

Sarutobi looked over the crowd as he wondered what to tell them all, if he told them only part of the story and the rest came out it would be bad for him. But there was also the fact that he wanted to protect Naruto as well. He wasn't in a good position and from the looks of things some were just jumping at the chance to not only drag his name down but also finally to get rid of Naruto with this event. He sighed as he prepared himself and hoped that his wisdom would help him out with this.

"Hokage-sama we demand to know what happened last night," one of the civilian leaders shouted out. "There are rumours all over that the Kyuubi is back, that he was never killed to begin with. We deserve to know if our lives are in danger."

This was met with lots of other voices that agreed with the sentiment and the Hokage had to make a tough choice. "I feel that you all now have a right to know, the Kyuubi was defeated all those years ago...but he was not destroyed."

He waited for the reactions to that to settle down, "The Fourth couldn't kill the demon it was too powerful even for him but he did manage to seal the demon away, he imprisoned it forever. You see he used a child born that terrible day as a living prison that would keep the Kyuubi sealed and safe from the entire world."

"Then what was that last night and why were we not told!" Someone shouted out.

"Some of the body here where told but I felt that it was decided that the boy would have a normal life, even he does not know what he keeps inside of him. And as for last night...there was an incident at the Hyuga clan compound, the Cloud ninja that you all heard of that was visiting apparently attempted to kidnapped Hiashi's daughter."

Again more reactions as many cast looks to the Hyuga clan head.

"The boy was gravely wounded trying to save the young girl, and somehow he managed to access the chakra of the demon."

"Who is this child? And what makes you think that the demon isn't in control of him?" The head of the trade commission asked.

The Hokage sighed hoping that he wouldn't have to reveal this but he knew it had been a fool's hope. "He is Naruto Hatake the son of Kakashi Hatake."

That sent many in an uproar, the fact that all of this was secret and yet there was a lot of confusion since the name of Kakashi Hatake carried a lot of weight. His actions were nearing legend status and he was one of the best Jonins that Konoha had at the moment as well. Some didn't want to go against the Copy Ninja for various reasons, some out of respect others out of intimidation.

"Then the boy is dangerous," Fugaku stated simply to them all. "If he accessed that power regardless if it was the boy or the demon that power is not meant for a small boy, and if he can access that demonic chakra how do you know the demon will not be released? He should be exiled, or dealt with before he becomes a threat."

"I disagree," Hiashi Hyuga said sharply as he stood up. "My daughter was the victim of a plot by Cloud to kidnap her and that boy defended her. In fact he was gravely wounded in his fight and not only did he save my daughter but captured the enemy ninja. For his actions...he has earned the respect and if need be the protection of my clan."

"If any harm comes to the boy then my clan will take it as a personal insult." He said in a commanding tone letting his words sink in. That surprised a lot of people as the Hyuga clan wasn't known to offering thanks or protection to those outside of the clan, plus Naruto now had the protection of one of the largest and most powerful clans.

"Are you insane Hiashi?" Fugaku asked the man.

"Actually I believe he is of sound mind," this came from the representative of the Aburame clan another of the powerful clans. "Although the boy's true nature is unsettling and his power if frightening...he used that power to not harm but save a fellow member of this village. Although the boy's control is not known to us, from the facts we assume that the boy is not evil."

"Is his power dangerous yes...is he a threat? I do not believe so at least not at this time and what would you do to such a boy? Do we really want to shun the boy and possibly make a powerful enemy?" Every member of his clan knew what that was like to be shunned, not many outside of his clan could stand to be around them because of their insect partners.

"Well I don't know about that but there's another fact," this was from the Shikaku Nara as he was with his two friends. Although the Nara, Yamanaka and Akimichi clans weren't the most powerful of clans they were respected. "He _is_ the son of Kakashi Hatake, one of our most famous ninjas and he's proven himself time and time again as a loyal ninja to this village. Hell the bastard saved my life a few times and I respect the guy. And I actually met the kid once, and he seems like a good kid to me."

"So the kid has my support, besides I've seen Kakashi mad and I don't think he'll take to someone trying to harm his son very well." He grinned seeing the worried looks passing through several people. Everyone had heard of Kakashi and his skills, the only Sharingan user outside of the Uchiha, who was said to have hundreds of techniques and a genius.

Shikaku's two friends nodded their own heads showing their support for the boy as well.

"He defended the pack, and to us that says a lot about him," this was from another clan the Inukuza clan. They were about the same standing in Konoha as the Aburame clan.

The Hokage smiled at the support that Naruto seemed to have and decided to take this chance to capitalize on the momentum. "Yes Naruto Hatake should not be feared, his father is currently starting training his son in preparation for the academy. I believe that given the chance Naruto will prove to be a valued ninja one day."

The debate went on but with the Hokage, one of the major clans, two of the other large clans and three of the smaller ones in support of Naruto, many had to give up on Naruto. Although the Hokage knew that the civilians wouldn't be able to keep the secret from each other he decided to give Naruto at least a chance with his generation. He made a degree that no one was to mention any of this to the younger generation making it a capital offence.

He knew that many would be scared of the boy, after all the wounds that the Kyuubi left ran deep but he wanted to make sure that Naruto had at least a chance with happiness. The boy had just started to make new friends as he learned and he didn't want the boy to lose that. Already there were parents of those that knew that had told their children to keep away from Naruto, and he knew that some that had just found out would do the same.

But at least now he had a decent chance for making more friends.

By the end of the whole affair the Hokage felt his years catching up to him, and he still had to deal with the damn Cloud ninjas. 'Maybe I should just retire? But I still don't have someone I can entrust this job to. Oh well hopefully I can keep this old body going for a few years yet.'

**Next up Chapter 11: Recovery**


	11. Recovery

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 11: Recovery**

**-Naruto's Room-**

He was bored, that pretty summed up Naruto's feelings for the moment. He was sitting in this hospital with bandages over his chest just staring at the plain white ceiling, the walls or the empty beds. He was glad that they let him keep his mask at least, but he really wanted something to do but he could barely walk. Some doctor called it chakra exhaustion and when he explained it Naruto didn't get a lot of it until his dad had summed it up as that he just used too much chakra and doing that leaves you weak.

Why couldn't the doctor just explain things simply like that instead of using long winded words?

He had asked his dad that and he just shrugged and said it was most likely how doctors made themselves feel smart and important. Naruto smiled at the memory, but that had been hours ago and now he just wanted someone to talk to. He wouldn't have minded if someone else was in the same room as him but he had the room all to himself.

So he just sat there looking out the window trying to keep himself busy.

He lost track of time when he heard his door open and he looked and his day suddenly got a lot better. There was Hinata with what looked like some flowers for him with Sakura, Ino, Choji, Shikamaru and even Neji. The four that hadn't seen him before had wide eyes at the sight of him in the bed, until that moment they had a few doubts just how serious the injuries were but there were the bandages over his chest where Hinata had told them where he had been stabbed.

"Thank god you guys came I was going out of my mind here alone," Naruto smiled behind his mask.

They came forward as Hinata blushed as she laid the flowers next to his table, "T-t-these a-are for you Naruto-Kun."

"Hey thanks Hinata-chan, so how are you doing?" He asked seeing the bruise on her face, she saw what he was looking at and turned her face to hide it. She told him that she was fine and she was touched that despite his injuries he was more worried about her.

Sakura stepped forward a little worried about him, "Does it...you know hurt?"

"What this? Naw, it's just a scratch."

"A scratch?" Ino nearly yelled out, "You took a kunai to the chest you should be dead! You have any idea how lucky you were, what were you thinking?"

Naruto cringed a bit, Ino kind of reminded her of Anko when she was pissed. "What was I supposed to do? That guy was trying to take Hinata and I had to do something!"

"Personally I think that's pretty cool," Choji smiled while opening a bag of chips, he took one out and thought about something, "Here want the first one?"

"You bet, the food here sucks!" Naruto took it glad that his arms could work enough for him to feed himself. It was going to the bathroom that was the real embarrassing thing that he would never ever in his life tell anyone about. He brought it up to his face and then noticed the looks he was getting, they were all waiting to see him without the mask.

Naruto just about to reach for it when his eyes grew wide as pointed out the window. "Oh my god someone just jumped off the building!"

Everyone looked to the window and when they heard the crunch they turned to see Naruto munching on the chip with his mask on. Everyone sweat dropped at that feeling like an idiot falling for that, Neji had only cast a quick glance since he had already seen Naruto without the mask and had to smirk at Naruto. Ino had this eye twitch thing going on and made a resolve to one day see the boy without that mask on no matter how long it took her.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered as he pulled out something from his backpack. "Well if you're bored you wanna play a game of shogi?"

"Is that like Go? My dad taught me that and we play it at times, well that and a few card games." Naruto asked as Shikamaru explained the game as he set up the pieces. The others began asking all kinds of questions about what happened and Naruto loving the spot light couldn't help but brag a bit on his exploit. Hinata had guessed at a few things but when Naruto started to exaggerate she felt a sweat drop forming. Shikamaru was focused on the game, Naruto wasn't that good since he started but he seemed to be learning, plus he figured that when Naruto adding in giant fire ball justus he was laying it on a bit thick.

Ino wasn't sure what to believe, but she had to admit he told a nice story and he had rescued Hinata and taken a serious wound. Neji was only a bit interested in the fact that the ending seemed totally made up, he figured that Naruto either wanted a more exciting ending or he wasn't sure how it ended. For Choji and Sakura they were wide eyed and hung on every word.

"Wow that's pretty cool, that all happened?" Choji said finding out that he had just finished his first bag of chips and started looking for his back-up supply.

"Oh yeah it's all true," Naruto lied.

"You must be really strong then," Sakura said wondering just how strong Naruto was.

"Where the hell is he?" came a very loud woman's voice, everyone looked curious at the door while Naruto suddenly felt very afraid. He knew that voice and the tone like the back of his hand. The door was slammed opened and there stood Anko in her usual clothing looking livid. The kids stared at the strange lady as she marched right up to Naruto.

"H-hey Aunty Anko, how are you doing?"

She pointed a finger right at him, "Don't you 'Aunty' me you brat! I come back from a nice easy going mission and you know what I wanted to do? I wanted to relax, go to the hot springs, eat some dango but what do I hear? I hear about you and what you did and that you were in the hospital! What the hell were you thinking!?"

As Anko continued her rant on him the other kids looked on not sure how to handle this, most just decided to just let the woman rant on seeing that she was kind of scary. Hinata however stepped up to Anko while she was threatening him with something that involved snakes, pointed objects and blunt force trauma. "P-p-please don't be m-mad at him, Naruto-kun was only saving me."

Anko took her eyes off Naruto to look at the young seeing her pleading expression, it didn't help that Hinata had this ability to just look cute and helpless at times making people take it easy on her, the small bruise on her face didn't hurt either. Anko just gave a disgruntled sigh she knew that Naruto did the right thing but she wasn't going to tell him that, it would give him a swelled head and he needed to be more careful in the future.

"It's okay Hinata-chan that's just her way of showing that she cares-OW!" Naruto began rubbing the top of his head where Anko had hit him although she had a satisfied smirk on her face doing it.

A chuckling was heard and everyone turned to the window to see a man with very big silver hair, a vest only seen on chunins and above in dark clothing with a mask and one eye hidden. "Now Anko you shouldn't go and hurt someone already in the hospital."

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed with earned him another smack to the head. He turned to the guy in the window, "Dad, make her stop!"

At that everyone who didn't know who Naruto's father was turned to look at the man who seemed to carry himself in a lazy manner that would make any Nara proud. The kids looked at the tall man who smiled under his mask and if it wasn't for the mask they wouldn't see any resemblance. Many of the kids figured that Naruto got his looks from his mother than his dad since they didn't know he was adopted at this point, but later when they would find out would make a lot more sense.

"I don't know I think Anko does make a point, after all I can't smack you around unless it's in training, since that would be child abuse on my part so I never will hit my children...so I think I'll let Anko handle that," Kakashi smirked at Naruto's horrified face as he quickly looked to Anko who was cracking her knuckles.

Then Kakashi turned to the other kids in the room, "Ah Hinata nice to see you again and I see Naruto has made some new friends." The man seemed friendly enough so the kids started to introduce themselves to him. Kakashi was glad that Naruto had found some new friends after the events of last night he knew that things for Naruto might never be the same, so having friends he could count on would be a big help to him later on.

Neji when no one was looking decided to take a peek behind the mask with his Byakugan, but there was something odd about the mask, there were thin layers of chakra moving around the mask. He blinked and realized that the man actually had fibbers that drained a very small amount of chakra. It didn't do anything noticeable but the thin mess protected his face from even his abilities. 'Just how paranoid is he about people seeing his face?' he wondered as Naruto's father talked with the kids.

Little did he know that it was an old technique that Kakashi's father had greeted, apparently in his youth the White Fang had lots of women trying to see his face too, and this had been developed when a bunch of Hyuga women saw through the mask and it led to all sorts of problems for him so he developed the technique. Kakashi learned it well and was going to teach Naruto when he started on his chakra training.

"So you're really Naruto's father?" Ino asked at the tall man and then looked to Naruto, "then how come he's so short?"

"Hey! I'm not short I just haven't finished growing up!"

"Just face it you're short 'chibi'," Anko smirked as Naruto glared at her for that.

"But at any rate Naruto you should take this chance to rest up because after last night you're going to need it," Kakashi said to him getting a bit more serious.

Ever the master of words Naruto said the only thing he could at that moment, "Huh?"

"I think I'll step up your training, and to make sure you don't slack off..." Kakashi grinned as he turned to Anko. "I'm sure that Gai would love to help you train on days that I'm gone and I'm also sure that Anko here wouldn't mind some time with you as well."

"Oh this is going to be fun," Anko laughed in a sadistic way as the smile on her face made the kids take a few steps back.

'What the hell kind of family does Naruto belong to?' Ino wondered looking at the strange man that was Naruto's father and the crazy looking woman that was his aunt. She had no idea who this Gai was but he was in this family she had a feeling he would be a weird one too. She looked at Naruto and he had gone very pale and looked like he had wished that he had died last night.

Which was exactly what Naruto was thinking, his dad was tough on him with his training and knowing how insane his uncle trained made Naruto get a seeking feeling in his stomach, but it was the training that he would get with Anko that's what really scared him. She knew how she could get and the fact that his dad was letting her loose on him gave him shivers down his spine. _'Oh man...just one more year, then dad will let me join...that is IF I survive...'_

Suddenly Naruto figured that either he would be in great shape for the academy...or he wouldn't live to see that day.

**-Later-**

After that day Sakura and Ino were walking home, Ino was talking but Sakura kept thinking back to Naruto and what he had done. She never would have done something as scary as that and she wondered if she would ever be strong like that? She remembered how she was before Ino became her friend, she was so lonely all the time, no one would play with her and they all made fun of her large forehead. She tried to hide it with her hair but it didn't work.

One day while she was being bullied Ino had come in and chased them off, that had been the best day of her life when Ino became her friend. She still wore the red ribbon on her head that Ino had given them, after that day she felt stronger and more out going thanks to Ino. It was odd how Naruto had come into her life the same way as Ino had, he had fought those bullies and Ino helped a bit as well. She looked at her best friend and saw how she was into her story.

'I want to be more like her, stronger and more sure. Like how Naruto is.'

'_**Yeah he seems nice too.'**_ Inner Sakura said to her. Ever since she could remember Sakura had this little self of her inside of her head. She never told anyone since people would just think she was weird and ugly. But Inner Sakura had always been with her helping her through her lonely times and as a voice to talk to. She wasn't sure if it was just her mind that made her, some weird blood limit, or she suffered from multiple personalities but Inner Sakura was there to stay.

'Yeah he is...but I wonder what's under that mask?"

'_**I wonder if he's really cute?'**_ Inner Sakura started to draw up possible pictures of Naruto without the mask.

Sakura blushed a bit at that and went back to her original line of thoughts. 'I need to be stronger but how?'

'_**Well maybe we could train with Naruto? Plus didn't Hinata say she is already training? We don't train yet and I bet they'll be way stronger than us by the time we get the academy.'**_

Sakura nodded to herself and then she focused on Ino, "Hey Ino...do you train with your family?"

"Huh?" Ino was surprised by the turn of conversation, "Well...no not really. My daddy gave me a few lessons in hand to hand but nothing much why?"

"Well Naruto and Hinata train but when we get to the academy we'll be behind them...and...and I want to be stronger like Naruto. He stood up for Hinata and save her and nearly died. My dad retired and is doing administration work at the Hokage tower now but he could train me if I asked."

Ino was starting to wonder herself, she did want to be a strong ninja one day to make her dad proud. Maybe it couldn't hurt but she stopped and pointed, "Hey look! It's Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura turned to look to see the handsome young Uchiha walking with his mother, both girls giggled seeing the boy. Ino like all girls had a crush on the mysterious boy, he was so dark and had this lone wolf thing to him. Didn't hurt that he was cute too, although Sakura did agree with the looks she mainly went on with the other girls because she wanted to fit in.

'_**Shannaro! Hey what if we're in a class with Sasuke and Naruto? Wouldn't that be great!'**_ Inner Sakura started to hug two little dolls that looked like chibi versions of Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura just sweat dropped and decided to ignore her inner self for the next few hours.

**-Hokage Tower-**

The past couple of weeks had been almost peaceful for the Hokage, he had visited Naruto a few times since he was and out of the hospital. And by the looks of it Kakashi was putting his son through the ringer. He knew that Kakashi was just worried about his son and wanted him to be prepared for the future, he also knew that Kakashi was blaming himself for Naruto nearly dying. Although the old man did admit he had never seen Kakashi this motivated since before he had a personality change after the deaths of his genin team. He was actually focused in his training with Naruto, and got help from unlikely sources.

Gai of course wanted to give Naruto weights although the amount he wanted to give him was insane, so Kakashi cut the original weight in half just so his son could walk. Another surprised was that Anko herself was training him a few times, although Naruto said they were more like torture sessions. He nearly laughed when he used his crystal ball to look in on when Anko wanted to make sure the boy would be able to dodge attacks in the future. So she spent hours throwing all kinds of weapons at him making sure his body knew how to dodge.

Anko had to be pulled off the interrogation of the Cloud ninja in the hospital as well, although she was a special jonin that helped Ibiki out with getting information out of prisoners, she had nearly killed the man at one point. Actually she managed to stop his heart for a full minute before starting it again. So far they managed to get out the real purpose for his visit to their village and to think that the Cloud Village would stoop so low. And here he was waiting for the official envoy for their prisoner as well.

A messenger told him that the envoy was here and he told him to bring them in. He sat up straight putting on his best 'Hokage' face. He saw three people walk in, a slim little girl that looked to be of jonin rank, with a tall red haired man with spiky hair with a large clever on his back. The man in front wore black with gold and carried with him a short sword at his hilt.

"Hokage-sama, I am Kojiro Miki. I understand you have one of our ninjas here," the man even though gave him the proper respect in what he said but not how he said it.

The Hokage would just let him go for now, the last thing he needed was to get into a war with Cloud. But he also wouldn't let this man walk all over to him, so he just smiled at him although the smile never reached his eyes. "Well I'm glad that you arrived here very fast, especially since we received word that you were coming before we even sent word to you."

The other two members of the team stiffened a bit but he noticed the leader only nodded his head, "Well in the ninja world many things are possible."

"Yes and I hope you remember that for later," smirked seeing his slightly confused expression. "But at any rate you're ninja is in a lot of trouble. He has confessed to trying to kidnap a child of the Hyuga clan not to mention we do have a witness to this as he was gravely wounded in stopping him."

"I would like to see Akira myself to ascertain that he has given this...of his own free will," Kojiro said to him and the Hokage didn't see any reason not to. So with a group of ANBU with them they found themselves in the secure area of the hospital. There were a couple of guards on the door and they let the group into the room.

Kojiro looked at Akira there on the bed, he had bandages over half his face and all over his body. His limbs were in casts and he had an IV in his arm. Kojiro turned to the Hokage anger on his face, "Is this how you interrogate a member of our village? What have you done to him?"

"Actually nothing much, he game in like this after the fight," Sarutobi told him honestly. Many of the injuries were from the battle a few from Anko but thankfully Ibiki had pulled her away from doing anything that would show. And the fact that Ibiki liked to use mental torture to get people to break down. He wasn't sure what he used, but long ago he stopped asking Ibiki those types of questions because he liked to sleep at night.

"Are you saying one ninja did this?" Kojiro asked dangerously.

"No I'm not," he couldn't wait for the punch line to this, "It was actually a young boy that hasn't even entered the academy."

Kojiro looked at the Hokage like he had lost his mind that a lie like that would actually work on him. He knew that Akira was no pushover, sure he wasn't the best but he had been picked for this mission for his skills. The fact that a child did this was laughable and was about to let this Hokage know what he really thought about him and his weak village when a voice called out weakly.

"Not a boy..." Akira said weakly.

Kojiro cast the Hokage a glance as he walked over to his fellow ninja and leaned down, "Who did this to you Akira so we can have revenge for this disgrace."

Akira looked at him with his single eye and there was something that he had not seen in Akira's eye before and that was fear, not just fear but actual terror. "It looked like a boy but it wasn't a boy...The Leaf village has a demon that wears the mask of a child. It wasn't human...the chakra...it was faster than I was...it was so fast..."

Kojiro stood up and wasn't sure what to think for the moment, it was obvious that his mind wasn't in the right place since he was speaking nonsense. He would be taken back where he could be healed and they would be able to get to the truth of the matter. This embarrassment would be remembered by the Cloud and as soon as they found something to blame then they would claim the right of revenge on that person. He only hoped that they could place it on the Hyuga clan since it was taking one of them that caused this.

Everyone knew that the Hokage was weak and strived for peaceful relations. Such a nature was looked as foolish among the Cloud ninja, in their village you used your strength to overpower your enemies and bend them to your will. The Hokage would not risk war and would do anything to protect his people from it. The last Great Ninja War must have taken its toll on the man that was known as 'The Professor', to turn someone of his skills in battle to seek peaceful alternatives.

"You will make arrangements for Akira to be moved and we will take him with us, he is one of ours and for this he will be dealt with by our own people."

The Hokage would have laughed at his face then he knew that Akira would most likely get a slap on the wrist for just failing. But he knew that if he protested it would only lead to much trouble. "Fine but let me tell you something...If he ever appears in the Country of Fire again, he will be killed on sight no matter what. Even if he is delivering a diplomatic message he will not be spared and he will go into our bingo books with that kill on sight order. He is no longer welcomed in this country or this village."

The Hokage stared into the young man's eyes with hardened eyes of a veteran and of a man that was more powerful then the young man could ever hope to become. Kojiro nodded his head to that, the old man knew how to play the game he had removed an enemy without actually killing him and yet gave them what they wanted. Although he was sure that they came out the victor in this little 'game' that was politics since as soon as Akira confirmed the identity of the one that got in the way of the plans to take a blood limit for their own, they would deal with that person.

After all the word of one man or woman against Akira could be contested, and they were certain that the Hokage would send to them that person out as a sacrificial lamb if it saved the village. But the thought of a child doing this was impossible there was no way any Konoha child was that strong, after all the Leaf Village were known lack the bloodlust or real warriors unlike them or say the Rock Village.

What he didn't know was that Sarutobi knew that Akira would never change his story and that the Cloud would never believe the story of a 'Demon Child', so he knew that Naruto was safe at least for now. He made plans to get rid of him although he knew that the Hyuga Clan would have liked to have had him killed for this crime, this was the best solution. If this ninja ever entered his lands again he would be killed, so the Hyuga's honor would be satisfied.

As he watched them take the man away he only hoped that the Cloud would be too busy and frustrated with Akira's answers to let the matter drop. Although he could expect more Cloud spies in his territory and maybe his own village for the next few months as they tried to get more information, which meant ANBU would be busy for a bit as well.

'Sometimes I wish you were still here Minato, they wouldn't have dared to try something like this if you were still alive.' The old man decided to go for a walk today, he needed to clear his head and to find some way to distress after this kind of day. A nice walk in the park would help and if luck would have it he would see Naruto playing with his new friends as well. Now for the first time all day he had a real smile on his face, if there was one thing Naruto was good for besides making life less boring, was to cheer people up.

**Next Up Chapter 12: Path to Darkness**

**I was a little unsure about this chapter is just seemed a bit off to me, well I hope the next one will be better and yeah we get more into Itachi in that one.**


	12. Path to Darkness

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 12: Path to Darkness**

Itachi had been on a weeklong mission with his group to hunt down a group of ninjas that had been in the Country of Fire for awhile now. The Lord was getting nervous and was getting complaints on attacks by a few ninjas in black cloaks with red clouds.

They had found one of them but the strength of these ninjas had been understated, he had already lost one member of his ANBU team already as they started to chase this ninja. He was fast, nearly as fast as he was and he had on a forehead protector that had a slash over it, from the symbol it looked like he was an ex ninja from Rock, which made sense with the earth style attacks that they had come up against.

Suddenly the ground shot up at them and Itachi managed to dodge but Raven was caught as giant and sharp rocks the size of trees came out of the ground and crushed the elite ninja. That only left him and Crane and by the way Crane was moving he could read his body and tell he was rattled. He was about to bark at him to get his mind focused when they had to dodge what looked like a giant shuriken

Itachi activated his sharingan as the enemy game into view. He started to make hand seals and he matched it taking the jutsu for himself. At the same time they both cried out, "Earth Release: Stone Pillars!"

Giant stone pillars shot out of the ground all over the place, some of them colliding together trying to smash the other ninja between them. His partner came up behind the cloaked ninja with a sword and slashed into the ninja. Itachi watched as the ninja's body turned into earth as he released it was an Earth clone, he was going to warn his comrade when a stone blade pierced his chest. The ANBU looked down almost like he was confused but when it was pulled out the body fell to the ground and died very quickly from the fatal wound.

Itachi new saw the ninja with some type of earth like armour on his arms and legs, one of the arms were bladed as well. It was too bad he hadn't seen the ninja use that technique, he would have liked to have added that to his growing list of abilities. Itachi fired off kunai with steel lines attacked trying to immobilise him. He was satisfied when he saw most of the wires holding him in place.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Missile!" Itachi roared out as a giant flaming dragon smashed into the ninja. With those wires there holding him there was no way for him to use a replacement technique the wires were specially designed to disrupt that. But there was a drawback to using the technique he had, and that was for a small moment you lost sight of the person you were trying to incinerate. In that moment the ninja had somehow called more earth together and had a shell covering himself.

Itachi was getting slightly frustrated but he kept himself calm and detached as usual. In battle he found that thinking logically and keeping yourself detached from emotions helped to keep you totally focused. He didn't think about the people he lost, or how strong this opponent was he was only thinking of winning, and how to win. He was about to hit the dome with enough fire to superheat it but thankfully he kept his guard up.

He jumped back as the ninja burst out of the ground. Itachi was grazed on the chest but nothing much more difficult.

"I have to admit you're better than the others," The black clad ninja smirked.

Itachi didn't bother to replay with words but with actions, he started to cast an illusion around the ninja. He wasn't the best but he knew a few good ones that would let him get in a good shot. While the ninja was busy trying to get out of the illusion Itachi jumped up and pulled his sword out, attacking from above.

But the enemy ninja moved just getting out of the illusion and his blade sliced into him but it wasn't fatal. Itachi then received a blow to his face shattering his mask as he flew into a tree. He moved as soon as he could knowing of a follow up but a kunai hit his arm, he winced but kept on fighting the enemy ninja. They continued to fight on never stopping to give the other a break, but it was a tough opponent.

Itachi began looking for an opening, any opening. He used a landslide technique that caused the ground under the ninja to become unstable, it was then that Itachi threw a few smoke bombs and several kunai with explosive tags into the smoke making large explosions. The enemy ninja jumped out singed but still alive

He began looking for the other ninja and felt movement to his left, he grinned and dodged the sword and gripped the ninja by the throat, "Time to end this little ninja."

Itachi gave only look with his eyes that seemed to say to him that he knew something, "Yes I agree with that."

Then there was a sharp pain in the ninja as a blade was shoved through his chest from his back and into Itachi, only a split second later Itachi became a puff of smoke as the shadow clone vanished. The ninja managed to look behind him seeing the real Itachi there. "Damn...got me with my own move..."

Itachi let the ninja fall dead just like he had with his partner that the ninja had killed.It was then that he suddenly felt a presence behind him and turned but was hit in the stomach, then in the face in a blow that was harder then he could remember ever being hit before.

Itachi coughed up blood feeling a loose tooth somewhere in the back of his mouth, the taste of iron from his blood was in his mouth as he looked up at the new comer. The last one had been difficult but this man, he was on a whole other level, he was superior in every way to the man he just beat but he was tired and this man was fresh. There was also something strange as well, the man's eyes they looked like the eyes of some kind of bloodline like his own or the Hyuga's. A few black circular lines in pale eyes, he couldn't remember ever hearing about such a thing before.

"So you are the mighty Itachi, I've heard of your skill and I must say to take down one of my men means that you are indeed strong. But you're not stronger than I am, and yet I see you want to fight on, why do you fight Itachi?"

"Why not?" Itachi said getting to his feet, "I am Itachi Uchiha and I am the strongest in my clan. I have no equal and I will not lose to someone else." Itachi said calmly as he started to gather more chakra.

"The strongest? Then you have no one to push you beyond you limits," the man said and Itachi paused for a moment as the man said something that he had known for years about himself. "Yes I know you very well or the type that you are. You strive to be the perfect ninja, the best that there has ever been but for what purpose? Even if you become the strongest with no purpose there is no meaning to it all, but you've gotten me interested in you so here is what I'll offer you."

"I can offer you skills and abilities that no one would know about, I can show you things that will make you the true equal to no one. Also I will give you a purpose, I doubt you want to serve for your life. Sure you most likely will lead a clan but what is a clan...to the entire world?"

Now Itachi was thinking carefully as he was getting ready, the man obviously was either insane, or very ambitious. No one could take over all of the known nations it was impossible to do that you would need true power, power that even he had to admit that he did not have. He didn't think he knew of any power that could allow anyone to conquer the world. But for the first time in a very long time something in him was sparked. The idea of showing the world his power, and to have true power in the world to be able to shape it to his whim...he was actually surprised that a part of him actually liked the idea.

"I can even give you something to show you my good faith," the stranger said to him, "Tell me what do you know of the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

Itachi's eyes widened at that, no one from outside of the village was supposed to know of that even most in his own village and clan didn't know the name. "How...How could you know of that?"

"I know many things Itachi and I know even how you can gain a Mangekyo Sharingan."

"That's impossible! No one knows how that was lost in the histories and everyone who has tried has failed. There have only been a few to gain that power but it was never recorded how it was done." Now Itachi was thinking back to all the studies on his bloodline, there were references to the Mangekyo and a few of the abilities but they never stated how. It was like the information was erased long ago for some unknown reason.

"Oh but I do know Itachi and there is a reason why no one speaks of it anymore. The way to gain that ability is through a sacrifice but not just any sacrifice...You must kill your best friend, with killing that bond in your life you will access your full potential."

Itachi in all his life would have guessed that to gain the ultimate power of his clan he would have to do something so...simple.

It was simple and yet he could see why no one had tried it, it would make sense why no one would talk about it or remember it, and why only a handful had gained it. Most likely they gained that power by accident and with all his training and with the knowledge that this man had known he knew that it had to be the truth. There was no lie in his voice and Itachi had to ask him more, "Why are you telling me this?"

"I offer you a choice Itachi, you can join me and my group. You have no real future in your village and your skills and talents are wasted there. I offer you to be part of the future, I plan on ruling this world and I know of how to do this. There are powers hidden all over the world, great demons that had been sealed away. I plan on taking their power and using it as the ultimate power, nothing will stand in my way."

"And as I've said you've interested me, so go back home and chose. If you want the power kill your friend. If you do you know your life there is over with and as proof of your commitment to me you must show me that there is nothing to hold to your old life. You must destroy your old life as proof that you seek the future." The man turned and started to walk away but then he stopped, "Think on it Itachi because if you do not accept the next time we meet you will die."

Then he was suddenly gone and Itachi was left with his dead comrades and left to think on his own future.

**-Konoha-**

Sasuke was having a good day, he had nearly killed himself trying to get that one jutsu that he saw his brother use and after days he finally got it down. In fact even his father seemed please at least that's what he thought, but something was still wrong. For some reason he said not to follow in his brother's path which confused him. Wasn't his brother the strongest in the clan? It made no sense but he had seen how even though his father up to that point had ignored him all his life, he wasn't any closer to his older brother.

In fact it looked like he was close to their father then his older brother which was strange. Things had been very odd around the compound too, it all started a few days ago when one of them seemed to have committed suicide something nearly unheard of in their clan. He had drowned himself apparently as a note with his hand writing was found in his room, but his father's reaction was not what he expected. Instead of being angry with a member of the clan for showing such weakness or even consoling the family as was his obligation as clan head, he seemed to be deep in thought about something.

Well for Sasuke he didn't understand any of this but he was too happy with his father finally acknowledging him to really care. For the first time in his life his father would train him personally and to finally get his father's approval after all this time and effort, well it just felt really good to him.

Across the village there was another son undergoing training but this was under his father's gaze. Naruto was finally doing chakra control exercises or at least trying to. He had this stupid leave on his hand and he had to make it float but too little chakra and it wouldn't do anything, too much and it would burn. And by the huge pile of burnt leaves he had a real problem with not burning them.

Kakashi was sitting on the deck reading one of this perverted books, although he looked to be reading he was actually thinking. Naruto was having a lot of trouble with such a simple thing, anyone else would have gotten this long ago but they had nearly a quarter of the leaves off one small tree gone now. It sent him thinking on why this was so hard for his son. One answer was that Naruto had no skills with chakra but given who his biological father and mother was that made no sense. Two other reasons were that because Naruto had such a huge amount of chakra it was a lot harder for him to mould, kids his age didn't have that much.

Hell, there were low grade chunins that didn't have that much chakra. Another reason he figured was because of the fox's chakra, Kakashi wasn't sure exactly how it worked with Naruto's chakra system but it wasn't normal chakra it was far more powerful and potent. If some of it was mixing in with his that also could explain a few things. It could even be because of those two factors which meant that he would have to really work on Naruto's chakra control.

He sighed as his son burnt another leave and started to yell at it and lose his temper. It was a long road for his son but there was a bright side to things. Naruto never gave up and he worked hard, maybe harder than anyone. He wouldn't stop until he got something right even to the point he just dropped from exhaustion. Also the fact that with his little training, some of Gai with taijutsu and whatever Anko did that didn't kill him, the thought of what Naruto could be when he grew up made him a little giddy.

His son had so much potential, now he just needed to know what to teach him. He could easily help him with the academy stuff but he wanted his son to have an edge. There were so many techniques to teach him but when he was ready there were two that he wasn't sure which to teach him. His own technique the chidori or the technique of his father the rasengan, in a way he felt that because Naruto was his adopted son he should get his own and only original technique but he was sure that Minato would want his son to have the rasengan.

He had been taught the rasengan but he had only actually used it three times in actual combat, it was just too insane for him to make and use. Each time his hand felt like it nearly drained him, the amount of chakra you needed for it was a very large amount.

He remembered the first time he actually made a perfect one, that had landed him in the hospital for chakra exhaustion. It was pretty much something he saved if there was no other way, sure now he had a lot more chakra then most as he had one of the largest among the jonins but he still wasn't anywhere near his old sensei had. Even now he could make one without using up all his chakra but he would be very weak after it and wouldn't be able to make another.

That was why he stuck with his own technique, it wasn't as powerful as the rasengan but it sure got the job done and he could use that a few times in one day as well.

There was only one other person who could teach Naruto the rasengan anyways but he hadn't been around for years. It was too bad since Kakashi had a bunch of books he would love to get autographed he only had bought the limited edition of the first series with his autograph. Cost him a whole month of savings but it was worth it.

Naruto started to throw another burnt leaf down and Kakashi starting to try and think of other exercises that would help Naruto.

Later that night as the sun fell Fugaku was walking along the clan compound trying to puzzle out the small mystery before him. Shisui's death bothered him, mainly because he knew that young man and he was anything but suicidal. But there was another thing bothering him, Shisui had been reporting on his son Itachi and what his son had been doing. His son seemed to be acting odd after his return from that mission where he had been the only survivor.

The fact that the boy had suddenly died made him think that Itachi might be linked to it. He honestly didn't know what was going on with his son but lately Itachi had been in the family library before the boy's death researching something. His oldest son hadn't been seen after the Shisui had been found and already he had recalled the family members. If his oldest son had been responsible then he would need forces to take him down.

His son held so much promise and he wondered where he had gone wrong with him. He could have lead the clan to greatness but it looked like he would become their great shame. On the other hand Sasuke had surprised him with his ability with the jutsu that he had mastered. Maybe he shouldn't have neglected his youngest son because he didn't develop as fast as his older brother, but he had seen the promise in Sasuke's abilities. He would help train his youngest son and he would lead the clan, and maybe it was for the best.

He had never been that close with his sons but at least with Sasuke he would understand him. Now was the only matter was Itachi to deal with. He walked through the dark home but suddenly something seemed odd. There was a stillness to the night, like death was in the air. He slowly turned his head to the window and looked out into the night.

He looked at the moon and noticed a slight red tint to it all, a blood moon. It was a bad omen to be sure and with the night like this his instincts were screaming at him. He noticed something else as well, there usually were roaming patrols on the grounds but he didn't see any of them. Now he was certain something was wrong and quickly ran through the mansion wondering when he never came upon another soul or how quiet things were.

He opened up the door to Kai Uchiha who was in charge of the guards, he stopped in his tracks at the sight. There in the center room was Kai, his wife and their two children all dead. It looked like the mother tried to cover the children with her body but had failed anyway. No one had ever managed to get this deep inside of the Uchiha home and commit a murder such as this. The person that could only do something like this he knew would have to be extraordinarily trained and would have to know the compound very well.

Then the answer hit him and he ran to check on the rest of his own family. He came into the common room and was met by a sight that broke through his nearly emotionless mask. There was Itachi in his ANBU uniform with a bloody katana, on the floor was his wife. His heart seemed to be like stone at the sight of his wife's unmoving body. As clan head he had to be totally in control and keep his emotions but this sight broke through all his control.

He might not have said it much or often but he loved his wife and seeing her dead at the hands of their own son was heart breaking. He took a few steps looking at her pale face and then looked at his son, but when he saw his son's eyes he was surprised to see the sharingan was different. It took a moment to process but there was only one thing that it could be.

His son had found a way to activate the last level of the sharingan, something only a handful had been able to do but had been lost for several generations. But he didn't care about that he stood to face his son setting his face in stone. "Why?"

"Anything in particular father?" Itachi asked in the same manner.

He didn't say anything only glaring at the young man, "you could have become clan head, even maybe be Hokage one day. Why throw it all away and why turn on your clan and family."

Itachi looked at him for a moment, "why would I settle for this village when there is a world out there to rule. And this village is only holding me back, I have found a new path for getting stronger, I thought that I was strong but there are others out there stronger than I am. I would never gain that kind of power like the power I have now. This village means nothing to me now, and I have to move forward and to do that...I have to cut all ties I have to this village."

He clenched his fists at his son's words as he glared at the boy and activated his own sharingan.

Elsewhere in the mansion Sasuke was running, he couldn't find anyone and he knew something was wrong. He ran through the halls looking for his mother and father wondering why the compound seemed to be deserted. He ran to the common room that his family used and opened to the door just in time to see his father being impaled by a katana. He froze there in shock as he watched his father die in front of him. Then he noticed his mother on the floor and when the face of their killer came into view as his father's body hit the floor it was like someone had shattered his world.

"B-brother?"

He stepped forward on shaking legs looking at their deaths and felt the sting in his eyes from tears. Then he looked to his older brother, "Why? Why did you do this! Why!?"

Itachi walked over to his little brother with no emotion on his face almost looking like he was studying him. "Because they were all weak and deserved it."

Sasuke tried to punch him but his fist was easily caught by Itachi, "You're weak too Sasuke, and let me show you a new power of mine... Tsukuyomi."

In that small moment Sasuke lived through three days of hell as he watched his family die over and over again in his mind. When it was over he looked at his older brother, "You're not worthy for me to kill, if you want to kill me you must hate me with all your being. To grow strong you must live to hate Sasuke."

With that final statement Sasuke blacked out from the mental stress that he had gone through. Itachi watched him fall and figured that those words were the best to get his little brother on the right path. He wanted to give his little brother enough motivation to become truly strong like he had become. One day he would see if his little brother had what it took to fight him and he would see which way of the ninja was best. But now it was time to go, he had to finish off any survivors before someone became aware of the deaths.

As the dawn came to the village, Itachi was a long way away from the village that had once been his home at that moment. He had left the village and not once did he look back. He had made his choice and he knew he had made the right one. He now had the legendary power of his clan and the power it gave him was unbelievable, and he was now on his way to only get more. He returned to the area where he had defeated the strange ninja waiting for the other one to show up.

He didn't have to wait long as the one he had met before had arrived, "I see that you have decided to join us. I must admit killing your clan was very impressive."

"They were weak and they would have hunted me down, they would have made things very difficult. Besides this way none of them would try and get the power that I have," although what he didn't say was that he left his brother alive not for any sentimental reasons but because Sasuke was the only one he felt was worthy to live on, and to live in with hate burning him up inside. He would see if he could push his little brother to be as powerful as he was to see which way of the ninja was the stronger.

Being emotionally detached or using your emotions.

"Then you'll need these then Itachi," the figure threw a cloak down that Itachi put on and then he noticed that the man had an open hand towards him with a ring on it. "This belonged to the one you defeated it's only fitting that you take his place."

"You still haven't told me much about this group of yours," Itachi said putting on the rind.

"It's called Akatsuki and you can call me, Pein." The man said to him leading him towards his future.

**Next up Chapter 13: First day of School**


	13. First Day of School

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 13: First day of School**

Naruto was in his room looking up at his ceiling waiting for his alarm to go off he had barely gotten any sleep last night. He had been training for a year and today was the day, it was the day he started his first day at the academy. He couldn't wait, he was so excited about things and the last year had gone on real fast it seemed.

He remembered the day Hinata's baby sister had been born, and she was kind of cute for a baby. He trained with Hinata and even Neji when Neji had the time which was nice, although he was already in the academy now a year ahead of them and doing very well. Naruto also enjoyed his time with his new friends Ino, Choji and Shikamaru but over the year something happened with him and Sakura. He started to really like her lately, okay so he also thought she was really nice looking and way smarter than he was. In the year he had known her she had gained more confidence and trained with Ino, the two had started to form a strange friendship/rivalry between the two of them.

He remembered six months ago he had been walking down a street with Sakura walking her home. It was on his way anyway and they had finished playing together that day. Hinata had been busy with her baby sister and the others had various other things to do. It had been going well until a couple of kids got in their faces, just a couple of bullies a few boys and a couple of girls. Naruto although angry could take it, but then they started to tease Sakura about her forehead making her cry a bit. That's when Naruto threw the first punch, he wished he could say that he fought and won but ended up with a beating.

At least he gave a few of them bloody noses.

So there he was just sitting up against a wall with Sakura trying to wipe some of the blood from a small cut looking really worried about him. "You didn't have to do that you know I don't like seeing my friends hurt Naruto."

He shrugged, "yeah well no one makes fun of my friends, besides it made you sad and I don't like seeing you sad."

Sakura gave a small smile at that, it felt good to have someone care for her and Naruto was always so nice to her. Sure he usually got into trouble and was a bit loud at times but he made things fun and he always stood up for her and for the others too. She remembered just last week when someone called Choji fat and he stood up for him. Naruto was very protective of his friends and no matter what the odds were he always fought his hardest for them. He never gave up and it was one of the reasons she had asked for some training from her father and even a little with Ino.

She dabbed a bit at the small cut on his eyebrow but thankfully it had stopped bleeding, although she and Naruto never noticed just how fast he always healed they just figured it always healed fast. She put away the small cloth she had on her and looked at him, there were a few flakes of drying blood but not much and he was looking at her with those blue eyes of his. She had to admit she had never seen anyone with eyes like his, they were just this unique shade of blue and after a year she still hadn't seen behind the mask. She wondered what he was hiding, was he ugly or did he have a scare or something?

"Thank you Naruto-kun...although I wish I didn't have this ugly forehead, I get teased so much because of it that I just want to hide it." Sakura looked down not wanting to see into his eyes. She remembered how Ino told her how it wasn't ugly but she was still sensitive about it.

Naruto looked at her for a moment before speaking softly which was rare for him and only when he truly meant something, "I don't think it's ugly Sakura-chan, I like it. I think it's uh...cute?" He honestly wasn't sure what to say about it, but he had heard that word used before by older people when they were talking to others and people seemed to like it.

Sakura blushed a bit smiling, "thank you Naruto-kun, but come on let's get you to my place so we can clean you up."

"Okay!" Naruto jumped up full of energy and hyperactive again, "You think you're mom made those cookies again? They're great!" Naruto liked the parents of his friends since they always treated him well. Especially Ino, Choji and Shikamaru's dads for some reason, Sakura's mother and father seemed a little unsure about him at first but after some time they seemed to warm up to him.

It also meant that when his dad was away on a mission for some time he could sleepover at his friends place. Choji's family always had a lot of food, Shikamaru's family was okay, his dad was pretty lazy and his mother kind of scared him at times but they lived by this large forest with all these deer. He only been with Ino's a few times but he liked it, and he liked learning about plants and stuff too. He had kind of started a small spot for flowers in his backyard.

Although his dad had been worried about him for some reason but he just told him that it was relaxing for him.

Naruto thought back over the year and had to admit it was a pretty great year. And now they would all be in the academy together and he couldn't wait for it. He wondered if he would find any new friends or not in school? He looked over at his alarm clock and scowled at it, 'Stupid alarm ring already so I can go!'

When it finally went off it only rang once before his hand shot out and stopped it. He jumped out of bed and went to get a shower and then change. He made it into the kitchen before his dad woke up and he sat at the table waiting for him. But after thirty seconds he jumped off the chair and pushed it to the counter as he tried to make his own breakfast. It wasn't too hard since he knew how to cook some meals for himself or for his dad since his dad taught him some things like how to cook.

He said it was an important skill to learn to be independent and something about how it showing how much a woman means to you if you cook her a breakfast in bed. Personally Naruto didn't get that last reference at all. By the time Kakashi had gotten out of bed he saw already a small mess of the kitchen thankfully Naruto was improving that first time he tried to make something on his own had been a disaster.

"I take it someone it eager for their first day?" He asked seeing Naruto excited and nearly bouncing off the walls.

"Of course dad! This is going to be great, I'm going to learn to be a ninja with my friends, make more friends and learn all kinds of cool stuff," Naruto went on and on to his father's amusement. It had been something that Naruto had been looking forward to for over a year now.

"So are you going there on your own, you know the way right?" Kakashi asked although he knew for certain that Naruto knew the way by heart but he liked seeing Naruto this excited.

Naruto put on that face when he was thinking, although for him it looked like he was struggling with the meaning of life when he did it, then he suddenly seemed to get an idea. "Actually dad I think I'll go and see someone before I get there."

"Well you better get going or you might be late," Kakashi said pointed to the clock. Naruto's eyes widened and quickly pulled on his mask and ran to the front door, leaving Kakashi to chuckle as he went to put on a morning cup of coffee for himself.

Over at the Hyuga compound the young Hinata was a bit worried, after all it was her first day and she felt a little worried that no one would like her. Thankfully she had all her friends going there so she would at least not be lonely although there was one other thing bothering her lately. Naruto seemed to be getting close to Sakura and it made her feel strange things. She felt sad because the attention he showed Sakura she found herself wanting him to show it to her. But he wasn't cutting her out of his life, he always came to play with her and to have fun and even to train a bit. And she felt a bit closer to her cousin now too since joining him in training now and then, and she had to admit he was much stronger than she was.

She still nearly giggled at all the times Naruto kept getting her father and uncle confused sometimes she wondered if he did it on purpose because of the annoyed looks her father and uncle got at times. But she still felt weak, she was always nervous around people and she could never really harm anyone in her sparing matches. But then every time she doubted herself Naruto would always encourage her and she found the strength to push on. She wanted to be strong like he was, he never seemed to be afraid and always fought his hardest no matter what.

He had saved her from that kidnapping, the night was a bit hazy but she still had nightmares about that. But Naruto had saved her, and he had nearly died in the process, she could still remember seeing him covered in blood.

"Hinata are you okay?" Hinata was brought out of her thoughts as she was sitting on her bed in her room and looked up to see her mother there by her doorway. She smiled kindly at her as she walked in and stroked her hair gently.

"Nervous dear?" Hannah asked and Hinata nodded her head, "Are you sure you want to be a ninja then?"

Hinata had been thinking about it but she knew the answer to that, "Y-yes I do. I want to show that I am strong mother. That I...that I can show that I'm not weak and..." she looked down as she fidgeted with her fingers in her nervous habit.

Her mother wasn't fooled though she had seen how Hinata was around Naruto and she had to smile. She knew that her daughter was starting to like the Hatake boy and who could blame her? Not every day that someone rescues you. Although she was a bit sad, if she grew up and fell in love with the boy he would need to seriously prove himself for Hinata to marry outside of the clan let alone be courted by someone outside of the clan.

Not many of their people did but there were a few, because in the past when some would run away to live with the person they fell in love with, or events that had led to bloodshed and other unpleasant things a set of rules were set up. The person that a Hyuga could see outside of the clan would have to come from a distinguish background, shown very high level of skills and strength. Plus the clan head and elders had to agree. A part of her hoped that her daughter found someone else to avoid heart ache but another part of her wanted her daughter to be happy.

Thankfully her father hadn't given in the elders about an arranged married to their daughters, since he wanted at least some free will for them. Plus that was the reason they had been married, if he had been arranged then he would have had to marry most likely someone else and Hannah loved her husband.

"Well then let's get you ready then Hinata or else we will be late," she told her daughter helping her to get ready. They arrived at the main gates and she felt another headache hit her eyes with the bright sun. She tried not to show it but lately she had been getting migraines lately, in bright lights it could get very bad but she just put it off as stress. After all she had a new baby daughter that was a handful.

They came to the gates as she nodded her head to the guards who bowed theirs in respect. They weren't ten feet from the gate when a loud and a very excited voice yelled out to them.

"Hinata-chan! Wait up!" Naruto came running up to them and stopped just short.

"Naruto shouldn't you be on your way to school?" Hannah asked.

"I wanted to walk there with Hinata-chan on our first day," Naruto smiled up at her.

"Well then Hinata, I don't see why Naruto-kun here can't walk you there," she smiled seeing her daughter's cheek get slightly red as she looked down and poking her finger tips together again. But she did catch the small smile on Hinata's face.

"Yeah you heard your mom let's go! I don't want to be late," Naruto quickly grabbed Hinata's hand which of course made her blush even harder as he ran to the school with her. Hannah watched the children run off together. She turned back and started to walk back towards the gates when she suddenly felt very dizzy and stumbled.

"Hannah-sama are you okay?" one of the guards ran over to her but she got up and waved him off.

"I'm fine just tired," she told them going back into the mansion maybe taking a nap would help her out.

**-Later-**

Naruto was looking at the school with excitement in his eyes, Hinata was standing next to him looking up at the building although she was nervous she was glad that Naruto had came to get her. She always felt better when he was around. Naruto looked at her with that hidden smile of his, "Come on let's see if we can find our class and the others!"

They searched through the academy and found the room on the first floor, there was a signed on the wall that told them that the new year's class would be inside and Naruto just walked right in and when he saw who the teacher was Naruto's day got even better. "Iruka! You're our teacher?"

Iruka smiled looking at the young boy and the shy girl in his shadow, "yes Naruto I am, I'll be your teacher and I want you to call me Iruka-sensei now okay?"

"Sure thing Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said happily, he was glad that he was getting him as this group's teacher. He knew that some classes would have a teacher throughout the time at the academy with maybe different support teachers. Sometimes students got a different teacher now and then if they were held back a year or something. Ninja schooling didn't work like the ones the civilian kids did, since as they were preparing for the lives as ninjas they needed a special type of schooling.

Naruto walked up to an empty spot, he saw Ino and Sakura sitting together and waved to them as they waved back. He nodded to Choji who was eating a bag of chips, with Shikamaru already sleeping at his desk. He sat down with Hinata on his left and to his right he saw a boy with short dark hair looking a bit darkly at the front.

Naruto wasn't sure who he was but he seemed familiar, then it hit him. "Hey you're that boy I've seen sitting around alone. How come whenever I say hi you just ignore me?"

The boy just sat there quickly as if he hadn't heard Naruto's voice. This of course was starting to tick Naruto off a bit since being ignored wasn't something he liked, "Well I'm Naruto and this is my best friend Hinata so what's your name?"

Again silence, "hey you jerk when people are being nice to you, you should at least be polite and respond."

Now the boy looked at Naruto sideways, "I don't care."

Now Naruto was really getting pissed off that the boy, "oh yeah? Then what makes you so special huh? Just my luck my first day and already we're sitting next to the class jerk."

"N-N-Naruto, maybe w-we should just leave him alone?" Hinata said in her usual soft voice.

"Yeah alright fine, but the least you could do is at least give your name," Naruto said glaring at the boy.

He only looked at him for a bit and grunted before giving out his name, "Sasuke Uchiha."

Hinata's eyes widened at the name, she heard of the boy but had never really seem him before, she knew of the clan which no longer existed since a year ago and she looked at the boy. She couldn't imagine what it was like for him, she wondered what she would go through if her entire clan had been wiped out and she was all alone. She felt bad for him but she wasn't sure what to say to something like that, she wanted to say something but she saw that he just wanted to be left alone and would let him.

Others that they knew came in and they said hi to each other while Sakura and Ino battled for the chairs behind Sasuke although it wasn't until Shikamaru pointed out that there were two empty spots anyways before the girls settled down, with Ino right behind Sasuke and Sakura right behind Naruto.

The classes started that day and Naruto was given text books and papers as well as other things for the school semester. Naruto had to admit school wasn't as exciting as he hoped, he liked Iruka and all but some of the lessons were kind of boring. The history was okay at least he went into the pasts Hokages so he wanted to know about the men he wanted to surpass, he also learned a bit about what made a Hokage so that was usual for him.

Some of the stuff was boring because he already knew some of it, like the chakra stuff his dad already told him about that and the different kinds. Okay so he didn't remember it all but he knew the basics and enough to allow him to mould his chakra at least. Then they went outside so Iruka could get a basic handle on any skills they might have. He stood in front of a target with a table or kunai and shurikens, they were blunted to the kids wouldn't hurt themselves but the points would imbed into the board that had several rings. The point trying to hit the center ring of course, so the kids lined up and started to throw.

Naruto watched as everyone tried out, some of the kids weren't too bad, some were actually kind of terrible obviously they never trained with the weapons before now, one kid actually missed the board once and hit a tree. He was glad to see that his friends were doing well, Hinata seemed to have the best accuracy out of the girls, and there was one other boy that seemed to be doing well also.

Some kid with red triangles on his face that when he did well had a huge grin showing off some wickedly sharp canines. Naruto thought he was named Kiba or something, then it was Sasuke's turn and the boy nearly hit dead center with all the throws. Everyone was amazed at that and he heard a few squeals from the girls.

"Well done Sasuke, so far you seem to be at the top so far," Iruka said with a smile and looked at his clip board as he marked the score and saw who was next. "Naruto Hatake you're up next."

"Alright time to show them what I can do," Naruto said grinning under his mask picking up his kunai.

The other kids were watching as well as the kid with the mask went up. There were some whispers about who the kid was and why he was wearing a mask all the time.

"Does anyone know that kid?" a boy asked.

"I'm not sure, but I have to wonder if he's any good," one of the girls said.

Another girl watched tilting her head, "Well I don't think he'll do as well as Sasuke-kun, but makes me wonder about the mask."

"It's family tradition," Sakura said to everyone who was now looking at her and the circle of friends. "His dad wears one all the time and the only one that's actually seen his face if Hinata here but she never says what he looks like."

Hinata blushed as everyone looked at her, "sorry but he made me promise not to tell."

"Still he can't be that good, he's kind of a runt anyway," Kiba smirked as he walked up to them.

"Yeah well that 'runt' took on a ninja and beat him over a year ago and nearly died as he saved Hinata here from being kidnapped," Sakura snapped at him and now everyone was looking at them, even Sasuke heard that and cast a glance to them. He looked at Naruto who was starting his own throws as he studied the boy.

"Yeah right," Kiba couldn't believe that a kid like that not even trained could take out a ninja.

"Hey shut up," Ino growled out, "We saw him in the hospital with the bloody bandages on his chest where a _kunai_ had hit him. He's lucky to be alive and for your information Hinata's father here the _head _of the Hyuga clan even said so, so shut up about it and take a bath you smell like a dog."

Ino didn't like other people mocking her friends and even for a kid she had a sharp tongue on her, although she only thought that Hinata's father had said something like that since she had overheard her father talking about it over dinner once.

"Wow look at that!" a kid yelled out and everyone looked to see that Naruto had done about as well as Sasuke. Naruto looked proudly at his score he wasn't sure how well he did although by the looks of it Sasuke only just beat him by a few points. He was disappointed that he didn't win but that just meant he had to train harder now.

Sasuke looked at the kid harder now he needed to be stronger and he couldn't have any equal, he had to kill him to avenge his clan but this kid was nearly as good at him at least in this field. But he would keep his eye on him just in case. If the kid proved to be his equal or even stronger then he would beat him, he had to because his brother was stronger than anyone else in his village so he had to be stronger than anyone in this village too or he wouldn't stand a chance.

As the day went on Naruto while in class looked to be bored or not always paying attention, while they were doing the physical training he started to compete with the Uchiha child. Whenever those two did everyone wanted to see who would come out on top, although Sasuke beat Naruto most of the time it sometimes was by a slim or small margin. Everyone else was trying to just keep up with them and by now everyone was talking about the two kids. Naruto was a bit disappointed when in the basic taijutsu class he wasn't paired up with Sasuke, he wanted to see where he was in skills with the kid but instead he got paired up with the loud kid Kiba.

Kiba was stronger than him but Naruto still managed to keep making him hit the ground every time thanks to all that training Naruto got from his dad, and his 'aunt' and 'uncle' as well. He was pleased to see that Hinata seemed to excel out of the girls thanks to her gentle fist style training. By lunch Naruto and his friends were sitting together outside with the snack packages there were there for the students.

"Man school is a lot different than I would have thought," Naruto said eating his food, and to the annoyance of everyone else whenever they averted they're eyes somehow his food was always gone in a blink of an eye. "I thought it would be more fun and stuff."

"Well I'm having a good time," Sakura stated eating a sandwich. "I mean we're learning lots of things and knowledge is important to have."

"Who cares, I just wish that we could take classes outside," Shikamaru said laying on the ground looking up at the sky while eating an apple.

"You'd just go to sleep again like in class," Ino said rolling her eyes, Naruto laughed at that and Ino went to look at the other blonde, "I wouldn't laugh Iruka-sensei caught you nodding off twice."

"I didn't get any sleep last night I was too excited!" He said in his own defence although that was true he just didn't want to admit that Iruka could be a bit on the boring side at times and things like math and science wasn't really his strong point. Plus he didn't get how Iruka said it would help with his life as a ninja so maybe he would ask his dad at least later.

While they talked on Naruto noticed one kid who was off on the side, he wore a coat with dark glasses and had the bottom of his coat covering his face with messy brown hair on top. Naruto watched as the kid was eating by himself but he seemed to break off some small pieces of his food and place it on the ground. Naruto was wondering why when he saw small black bugs come out from his sleeve and go to the food. Naruto was wondering why the kid had bugs in his coat, although they seemed to be doing what he said too.

Naruto just shrugged it off as someone asked him a question. The rest of the day went by pretty well at least although Naruto learned one aspect of school that he would hate until the last day of his life in school. The most dreaded word that would go into his list of words that he hated and that word was homework.

Naruto sighed as he walked home with his new books and stuff all the while muttering to himself about how he spent all day learning stuff and doing work and now he had to take work home with him? Sometimes life just didn't seem fair to Naruto, and then his mind began to wonder about how to liven things up at school. A few ideas started to form and he couldn't wait until he started his plan to make school less boring and one target he would love to try it out on was Sasuke, that guy needed to get that stick removed and he was going to make that boy liven up even if it killed him.

**Next up Chapter 14: Dog Boy and Bug Boy**


	14. Bug Boy and Dog Boy

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 14: Dog Boy and Bug Boy**

For the next couple of weeks Naruto got used to his new life in school, he was learning some neat things although he was still bored at times. Sometimes Iruka would yell at him and Shikamaru because they fell asleep, plus the fact that he was getting a reputation. Well actually it was a couple, one was when after a week a string of mysterious pranks started to plague the school. Someone put dye in the teacher's tea and coffee in their teacher's lounge making all the teachers have black or green mouths and tongues for the day. Then there was the incident when had set up shaving cream bombs of some short, and then there was the day smoke bombs went off at random intervals throughout the day.

No one was sure who was the culprit and the teachers had decided to catch whoever it was in the act, that was how they caught Naruto after school planting clue on all the chairs of the teachers. Iruka had been disappointed in Naruto, and they had a talk with his father...who was two hours late for the meeting of course. Kakashi said he would punish Naruto although Iruka figured from the attitude that Kakashi actually thought it was kind of funny and would most likely just increase Naruto's training at home.

They also made Naruto apologise to the entire school, although Neji who was a year ahead had to admit the fact that Naruto managed to get all of that done and not get caught until now was surprising, but he never would admit it. He didn't even say that he knew Naruto since no one asked him which he was thankful for.

Naruto was also known for being the only one that could keep up with the Uchiha prodigy as well. The two of them competed all the time, races, sparing matches, and anything else they could do. Although they acted a bit hostile towards the other it was just their way, besides Naruto enjoyed having someone that made him push himself. He figured the harder he worked the faster he could make Hokage one day. But there was one fact that had escaped Naruto during that time and that was because he was the only one that rivalled Sasuke it made him more noticeable especially to certain members of the female class.

Although the Sasuke fan girls were numerous, Naruto had a smaller following as well. If he wasn't lazy in class or pulled pranks he would have gotten more, but there were other things that made certain girls like him. First was the fact that he always wore a mask making him kind of mysterious in a way, no one knew what he looked like and that curiosity was alluring to some of them. Another was the fact that Naruto once you got to know him was a very nice guy, Sasuke would always just blow the girls off and at times when he was really annoyed might say something hurtful just so he could get some peace and quiet.

Naruto on the other hand always would talk to the girls that went up to him, that made him much more approachable. The thing was he had no idea that the girls liked him in that way, he just thought they were being friendly and was just trying to make new friends. This of course was misread by the girls that he was interested in them and of course would lead to some trouble here and there, mainly young girls getting into fights over who was better Naruto or Sasuke, and who liked the boy more.

It also kind of made Hinata a bit awkward, although she would have gladly been placed in the 'Naruto fan girl' side of things she was also Naruto's best friend and she was always close to the boy. This led to some jealously with some other girls over how close Hinata was with him. Sakura was getting a little confused, she liked Sasuke but Naruto was so nice to her all the time as well so she had no idea which boy was better. Ino thankfully was only after Sasuke, and helped keep the three girls together in tougher times. She had no rivalry with Hinata and Sakura hadn't made her intentions clear so to Ino that meant that none of them were a threat to her and 'her' Sasuke-kun.

But there were a couple of people that Naruto was curious about, mainly was the Shino kid that always wore a heavy coat all the time, he always seemed to be alone and Naruto remembered how that was like. The other was Kiba who was a loud mouth show off, which meant Naruto was starting to like the guy. Plus when Naruto had been caught as the 'Academy Gremlin' as the mysterious prankster had been called, he had laughed so hard and gave Naruto a large smile.

Kiba always seemed to enjoy his pranks the most and he was thinking of asking the boy if he would be his friend as well. But first he waited for recess to come around, it took forever for the bell to ring and usually Naruto would be rushing towards the door but this time he held back watching where Shino went. He followed the other boy and was confused when he walked to the bushes and knelt down, he seemed to be doing something but Naruto couldn't guess what it was. He waited but patience was always one of the things that Naruto had trouble with.

Naruto walked up behind him looking over his shoulder but he couldn't guess at what the boy was doing.

"Hey there what'cha doing, Shino right?" He only got silence but the boy did turn to him slightly with a raised eyebrow. Naruto waited then frowned, "oh come on I just wanted to know is that so much to ask?"

Shino looked at him for a moment before moving slightly to the left and pointed, Naruto saw a small insect that was crawling on the branches. He wasn't sure why the boy was interested in it although he did admit it was kind of cool with the red and black markings. "Okay so what, you want to keep it or something?"

"For breeding," the boy finally spoke and Naruto turned to face him surprised he managed to get him to talk. Normally Shino only talked when Iruka asked him a question in class and he had to answer.

Naruto of course took this as a victory in getting the strange boy to finally open up a little, "cool so you collect bugs and stuff for that?" He got a nod from the boy and Naruto went back to looking at the bug. "Nice although I noticed you liked bugs, you always been like that?"

Again Shino raised an eyebrow, "It's the way of my clan, we raise and control bugs as part of our fighting style."

That was the longest answer that Naruto had ever heard him give for awhile he figured the boy was just the quiet type but when you talked about bugs that was when he seemed to talk a bit more. So Naruto asked him all about his clan and Shino answered. For Shino he had never met anyone who was interested in his clan, most of the time he hardly went outside of the clan compound because a lot of people were uneasy around them.

But Naruto seemed to be genuinely interested and wasn't freaked out by anything. When Naruto asked what exactly they did with bugs he showed the masked boy a few of them that he had on him by commanding them to crawl out of his coat. He explained how they would be used to track, attack an opponent by draining their chakra and other things. Naruto who had firsthand experience with chakra exhaustion on many times knew firsthand how bad that could be. His respect for bugs went up a notch and made a mental note not to piss off any of the bug users in the future.

Despite things Shino was having a nice time, no one had ever talked to him like this before. He knew that his social skills weren't exactly that great but it seemed that Naruto listened well, which was odd given how many times the boy slept during class.

"Hey Shino you want to meet my other friends?" Naruto asked the boy and he could see some kind of hesitation or at least what Naruto assumed was, the boy was very good at keeping his expression blank a lot. The only thing Naruto could pick up was slight body movements and his eyebrows he couldn't even see his eyes and the lower half of his face was covered by his jacket.

"Oh come on, they'll like you if you just open up a bit," Naruto wasn't going to give up and he could see that Shino was thinking about it so he decided to give him an extra push that being grabbing his sleeve and dragging the taller boy with him. "Come on just give it a shot already."

Naruto dragged the boy across the yard over to where his friends were, they were talking when they noticed Naruto dragging some poor boy with him, "hey guys you mind if Shino here joins us?"

"Whatever," Shikamaru said with a shrug, and there were no other real objections.

"Cool, Shino that's Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan. Guys this is Shino, he doesn't say much at first but he's a nice guy and get this he can talk to bugs and stuff and make them do things!" Naruto saw varying expressions.

Ino didn't like bugs that much, and always did think that Shino was a bit on the creepy side that he never talked and with those black sunglasses you couldn't tell where he was looking. Sakura tilted her head wondering how you could talk to bugs let alone making them do things, Shikamaru looked over with a raised eyebrow and Choji just kept on eating.

Hinata however because of her place in her clan knew all about the prominent clans of the village and she got up to him and gave a small bow. "H-hello Shino-kun, you're part of the Aburame clan. My f-father has spoken highly of your clan and their abilities."

Shino nodded his head, "you are the heiress of the Hyuga clan, my clan has respect for yours as my father said you are to be trusted."

"Wow...that's the most I've heard him talk in like, forever." Ino muttered to Sakura who tried not to giggle.

"Would you like to join us then?" Hinata asked and Shino looked around and nodded his head as he sat down with them.

It felt good for Shino to feel being accepted inside the grouping, their clan over the years had been inspired by their insects and their collective. Belonging to a group and being a productive member of that group was one of the things their clan tried to do. First they viewed their clan as the first collective and then also that of Konoha but Shino had no other grouping that he felt like he was a part of outside of this clan so this small grouping was nice to him.

As he got to know the others he started to analyse the new grouping that he hoped to he accepted into. Shikamaru seemed lazy but he had seen the boy always answered the questions when he was asked and as far as he had observed he had never lost to a game of shogi he had played with anyone. That meant there here hidden depths to the boy that he was hiding. Choji although looked physically unfit, Shino had seen him hit the wooden targets harder than the other boys, although he seemed to have self image problems he was a very loyal person.

Ino was loud and brash but she too was loyal to her friends and protective of them, she also wasn't afraid to be herself or speak her mind, her friend Sakura seemed nice and intelligent but seemed to second guess herself a lot, it was like with Hinata, she was kind to a fault really but she was a very warm person. And then there was Naruto who Shino was still trying to pin down, at one moment he was hyperactive, loud and acted very childish but at other times he was the complete opposite, was he bi polar or something or was there just more to him?

Plus one other thing, his insects felt something different about him. He asked but they couldn't tell him why only that Naruto was more than what he seemed. Shino looked at Naruto as he was fooling around making Ino angry and was getting yelled at, _'who are you Naruto Hatake and what is it about you that makes you so different?'_

**-After School-**

Naruto's next person on his list was Kiba, he found Kiba after school waiting around. He walked over to him and waved, "Hey there Kiba."

He looked over and grinned, "Hey Naruto you come up with anything new for class?"

"I'm waiting for things to cool off a bit; I really don't want to go through what my dad did for the weekend after that meeting with Iruka-sensei."

Kiba raised an eyebrow, "why what did he do?"

"One day full training with Uncle Gai and the next with Auntie Anko..." Naruto was actually sore for a day after that and he could hardly move.

Kiba didn't understand what was go bad about that although he didn't know who those people were, so he just laughed a bit, "come on what's so bad about that?"

"Are you kidding?! They're training is insane! Gai likes to do laps around the entire village on his hands and that's just his personal training you even want to know what he had me do? Then there's Anko and she's crazy!"

Kiba blinked for a moment, he wasn't sure if Naruto was exaggerating but from the looks of the masked blond he wasn't so sure. "So...what's this Anko like then?"

Naruto made a face at him, "first time she babysat me she tied me up to a chair, she likes to use these snake styles ninjustu stuff and likes to scare the crap out of people. I think she said she was thinking of going into some training to get into the torture and information extraction section."

That made Kiba's eye twitched and for a moment his older sister didn't look so bad in comparison, sure his older sister gave him some grief now and then but at least she wasn't into torture (even though Kiba figured she could have a shot at it), so he only shook his head in sympathy for Naruto. He couldn't blame the shorter boy for letting things cool off. It was too bad he really enjoyed the pranks Naruto did, they were the high boy of the day for him at times.

"Anyway tomorrow me, Shikamaru and Choji are going to the park, I'm hoping Shino will come too. You want to come with us Kiba?"

Kiba shrugged, he was still trying to make some friends and even though he didn't like Naruto much at first he had to admit he was starting to like the guy. He was unpredictable and he guess he could do worse, "well that sounds okay but my sister wants me to do some work with the dogs later. So why me, we hardly say much to each other, well besides some insults and stuff."

But Kiba said it with a grin since he and Naruto always seemed to try and push each other's buttons especially during the sparing matches although Kiba was still sore that he only got in one win and had a suspicion that Naruto had let him win that time anyway.

Naruto just shrugged, "why not? I mean yeah you're an ass sometimes but I like you."

"I'm an ass? Listen here Shorty I'm not the one that starts most of the fights!"

"Oh yeah, and I'm not short! I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet!"

Kiba smirked at him, "You'll be lucky to reach five feet at the rate its going."

Naruto scowled at him and was about to give a retort when a woman's voice yelled out and Kiba suddenly stiffened and had a look on his face that Naruto was pretty sure that was the same look on his face whenever Anko gets into one of her 'moods' and he's in mortal danger. He looked over to see a girl a few years older with the same markings on her face, same hair only in a long ponytail with an annoyed look on her face.

"What do you want, I thought mom was coming by?" Kiba asked.

The older girl put her hands on her hips and glared at him, "Mom's not coming she got held up and don't talk to me like that you little brat." That was when she noticed Naruto and looked at the boy with an odd look. Mainly it was because she never seen a boy with a mask on like that before and she was wondering what was going on as she had seen the two arguing about something.

"Hey kid is my idiot little brother bugging you?" She asked.

"You're Kiba's sister?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah my name is Hana Inuzuka."

Naruto looked at her for a second before saying something, "wait your name is Hana? Cool my best friend's mom has the same name, is it a popular name or something or just for pretty girls?"

Hana wasn't sure to be angry at being compared to someone's mother or flattered that he said she was pretty. Naruto then gave a small bow with his head, "well it's nice to meet you Hana-san, Kiba always said that his big sister was young and pretty but he never said how pretty."

Now Hana was smiling while Kiba was wondering what the hell was going on, he never said anything of the sort hell he was sure he said the complete opposite a few times.

"Well nice to know that my little brother isn't a total pain then, who are you anyway?"

"Names Naruto Hatake and I was wondering if Kiba could play with us at the park tomorrow that is if that's okay."

Hana thought about it for a moment and then shrugged, "well okay then it's nothing big that I can't handle. I'm glad that Kiba has at least a few friends with some manners. Kiba, I'll see you in a bit I got to go and drop something off and I'll be right back so make some plans with Naruto here."

Kiba watched his big sister leave and when he was sure she was out of ear shot he quickly grabbed Naruto by the front of his shirt, "what the hell was that man? I mean I never said that and were you trying to make a pass at my _sister _of all people!?"

Naruto wrenched his hand off, 'get off me! First hell no, she's way too old for me and she looks and acts too much like Anko and I'm not suicidal. Secondly I learned fast that in order not to piss of women like that you got to compliment them, be really nice and respectful and then throw in some compliments and make sure you say something about them or they themselves are pretty."

"And that works?" Kiba asked.

"You got the time off didn't you?" Naruto smirked under his mask, making Kiba laugh a bit and asked him where he learned that from. "My dad actually has some good advice, I use it on Anko when she's got that killer look in her eyes, well that and promise her dango that oddly works better with her."

Kiba just shook his head at it all, it seemed that Naruto and his whole family was weird but he did get him out of working with his big sister later and he might as well play with the guys. Besides he needed some guys to hang out with and he might like these guys given half a chance. Well that and they were the only interesting ones he could think of and there was no way in hell he would hang out with that Uchiha kid, Kiba thought of him as a stuck up jerk anyway.

**-Hyuga Compound-**

Hannah Hyuga had been dealing with the usual things that the wife of the clan head usually dealt with, such as dealing with problems with the main or branch members or even between the two. Plus there was dealing with other clans, merchants, council members, as well as social functions. But lately she had been trying to deal with them but she had been getting lots of headaches lately. At first she thought they were just from stress but something had happened when she had tried to use her bloodline, she had received blinding pain in her head and behind her eyes.

She deactivated them quickly but she was dizzy and a throbbing pain for the rest of the day. That was when she had gone to the hospital and for the entire day she had been wondering what was going on with her. Unfortunately what they told her had left her in a state of shock for the rest of the day. She had walked back home and just wanted to see her little girls, she had hugged her daughters close and had been avoiding everyone else all day because she was worried that she might just break down.

So there she was at the moment in her private quarters just sitting down with the shades because of the headache direct sunlight gave her eyes. She had been thinking all the time and she just didn't know what she could do. She heard the door open and for the first time in a long time she had a harshness to her tone, "I said I wanted to be left alone."

"What is wrong," said the voice of her husband and Hannah nearly jumped as she turned around surprised to see him closing the door and walking over to her.

"M-my love I didn't know it was you."

He walked over to her and sat down across from her and took her hands, he looked her in the eyes and she could see the worry in them. He only ever allowed that mask he wore to fall off between them when they were alone. "I will ask again what is wrong?"

"It's nothing..."

"My love I know you, you've been tired lately, you have had headaches a lot and you can't sleep well at night. And I know that you went to the hospital this morning as well, and you are eating less than you normally do. So please don't insult me, you know I love you more than anything so please tell me what's wrong," he pleaded with her.

Her eyes dropped and she shut her eyes she couldn't look him in the face, how could she look him in the face with this news? It was tarring her apart inside and she finally let the tears fall, she still couldn't believe this was happening she just wanted this to be a bad dream and let it be over with already to wake up and have it all just some nightmare.

She took a calming breath before she could speak what the doctors told her, "I...I have Bloodline poisoning."

Hiashi felt like someone had just hit him in the gut with a sledgehammer, he knew of that every person with a bloodline trait that illness. Sometimes there was a genetic anomaly and the bloodline actually turned on the person like a cancer. It was very hard to treat and had to be treated quickly, because if it reached a certain level then it became terminal.

"How...how far along is it?" He was surprised at how soft and weak his own voice sounded, there was no commanding presence in it anymore, there was no strength in it, it sounded totally alien to his own ears.

She looked up into his eyes hoping for some strength for this, "they don't know yet. I have to go back for more in-depth examination and then they'll start the treatments and see how it goes. If things get too bad, they might have to...to take out my eyes in order to save my life."

She started to tremble then, for a Hyuga there was no worse fate than to lose your eyes. You would become pitied by everyone in the clan and that kind of weakness was almost like a shame that you couldn't run away from. Some who had lost their eyes in battle ended up taking their own life than live with the shame. And it was hard to get new eyes implanted for their clan, their eyes were keyed to them in ways that made it difficult, like they were bonded to the person. Even a Hyuga giving their eyes to another ran a risk of being rejected.

Then Hannah felt the arms of her husband engulf her and she pulled him close burying her face into her husband, "I'm so scared Hiashi-kun."

"I know Hannah-chan I know, but we must have hope. You're strong and I know you can beat this," he said softly to her stroking her long hair. He wanted to believe that as well, she was the best part of his life and if she died he wasn't sure what he would do without her. He didn't want to think about that, as he held his wife as she softly sobbed against him. He prayed for the first time in a long time for his wife, they would wait and see what would happen, there was no need to worry everyone especially the children.

**Next up Chapter 15: Life and Times of Naruto**


	15. Life and Times of Naruto

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 15: Life and Times of Naruto**

Kakashi Hatake was just leaving the Hokage tower and heading home, he was wondering how Naruto's day went and he had to admit being a father sure changed him in some ways. Okay so maybe not much on the outside, but he cared deeply for the boy and would do anything to protect him and see him raised to be one of the best ninja this village had ever seen. He smiled at the thought of what would happen in the future if Naruto's name became well known like his and his father's.

He cast a glance at the face of the Fourth on the mountain and wondered if he was doing his old teacher proud with how he was raising Naruto. He hoped so, and his mind turned to what else he could teach Naruto. His chakra control was getting better but it still sucked, his taijutsu was getting better with the style that he was teaching him but Naruto seemed to have a gift for making up moves on the fly, they weren't pretty but they were totally chaotic and unpredictable. With some polish he might turn out pretty good, he wasn't sure about how well Naruto would be with ninjutsu and with his lack of chakra control he got the feeling that his son would be horrible at genjustu.

So maybe focusing on the first two and letting Naruto learn how to find and dispel them would be best, he'd see how well he would do when his class got into transformations next year. But he was glad to see his son making some new friends the Kiba kid was a lot like Naruto in ways and the two were always pushing the other but in a rival and friendly manner that made him remind him of his own relationship with Obito had been.

The other boy Shino was the quiet type but seemed okay, and then there was something else he was noticing and made him grin under his mask. Apparently Naruto was starting to get a small fan club of girls, it reminded Kakashi of his own youth although looking back on it he wouldn't have ignored all those girls, honestly what the hell had he been thinking? He could have had any girl he wanted but he had been too stuck up and focused to just relax and have fun like Obito had tried to get him to do all the time.

Although when he went to pick up Naruto he had noticed a few girls giggling as they were watching his son, although his son seemed to be a bit too dense to notice. Although Naruto did seem to have a small crush on the pink haired friend of his and she seemed to have a bit of on herself although he also noticed how Hinata also was.

'Two girls area already after you, Naruto you are so lucky and yet so screwed at the same time,' he giggled a little perversely at what his boy would be later on in life. Although when puberty set in he would have to have a one on one talk with him, maybe let him read a few parts of his books for him to know how to treat a girl if he got that far, it sure would have helped with his first time. That had been awkward to say the least but at least now he knew a lot of good tricks.

"Yo, Kakashi."

He turned to see Asuma one of the Hokage's sons walking up to him.

"Hey what's up?" Kakashi asked as he stopped in his place.

"We were wondering if you wanted to have a poker game tonight, I'm trying to round up a few more Jonins for it." Asuma asked him while digging for one of his cigarettes.

Kakashi thought about it, usually the Jonins would get together for things like this from time to time. It was a nice way to get the know the new guys, catch up with others and share good stories. Sometimes they went to a certain bar to hang out or pay tribute to fallen friends as well. They hadn't done that in about a month so and he felt the need to relax a bit.

"Sure whose turn is it?" Kakashi was mentally listing the current Jonins and trying to remember the order, he had missed the last two times so that would be...he saw Asuma's smirk and he suddenly realized that Asuma had planned this out.

"Tonight at seven good for you?" Asuma asked still smirking.

He sighed and nodded his head, "Yeah why not."

"Good cause I've been wanting to meet this kid of yours who my old man seems to like so much," Asuma smirked at him. He had never actually met Naruto yet which was odd given how his dad liked him so much. Although it didn't help that he and his father were still having troubles with each other, as a ninja and Hokage they worked well together but as father and son things just didn't work out as smooth. At least his relationship with his brother wasn't as bad although still tense at times.

Kakashi nodded his head as he pulled out his book as he walked on back to his place, it certain would be an interesting night that's for sure. He hadn't had anyone join him over at his new place since Naruto was born. He had always been too busy when Naruto was younger and then missions always got in the way as well. He wondered what Naruto would make of them although he hoped that Ebisu guy wasn't coming, Kakashi respected his abilities as a ninja and a special Jonin that taught ninjas but the guy was way too ridged. He just reminded Kakashi too much of how he was younger.

He also hoped Gai wouldn't show up, the last time they were together he got it into his head to challenge him to a drinking contest. He won it although he paid for it the next morning and he really didn't like to tell Naruto that he was just sick and not hung over. He really didn't like doing that to his own son and swore off drinking competitions until he was a bit older to understand.

Later that night Kakashi set up the table, got the snacks and a few drinks. He had finished helping Naruto with some homework and he seemed excited to see some new faces. He had taken off his combat jacket that everyone got at Chunin level and was just in a black t-shirt. He heard the door suddenly bang open and that would only mean one of two people.

"Worship me all for the goddess of games has arrived!" Anko called out as she marked right in throwing her coat onto a chair. Behind her was a slightly older woman in civilian clothing with long dark hair and strange yet captivating red eyes.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to be here Anko? I'm still a Chunin after all," the woman asked.

"Kurenai you're my friend and you'll make Jonin one day like me so think of this as meeting your future peers." Anko walked into the living room seeing Kakashi there with a questioning look on his face. She just gave him one of her wide grins, "Hey there Kakashi, hope you don't mind me bringing a friend along."

Kakashi just shrugged his shoulders, "I don't mind it's my house so my rules."

"Great, this is Kurenai Yuhi. So then where's the brat?" Anko looked around only to be suddenly hit by a yellow, black and orange blur.

"Auntie Anko!"

"Hey there Naruto how is school going?" Anko smiled ruffling the boy's hair.

Kurenai was smirking at the scene she had known Anko for years and she never seen her like this. She rarely showed that much affection and the two were actually cute together, she noticed Kakashi giving one of his closed eye smiles. A small giggle escaped her but she stopped as soon as Anko gave her the evil eye for it.

Naruto looked up at the lady and tilted his head, "Hey who is the pretty lady?"

Kurenai knelt down to the boy smiling, "My name is Kurenai Yuhi and you must be little Naruto that Anko told me about, it's nice to meet you."

"Thanks it's nice to meet you too," then Naruto looked at her eyes for a moment, "hey how come your eyes look kind of like the one eye my dad has? Are you part Uchiha or something?"

Kurenai stood up surprised by that and looked to see Anko and Kakashi giving her the same look.

"You know now that you mention it, the resemblance is there..." Kakashi said.

Anko nodded her head, "You ever trace back your family tree Kurenai?"

She gave them both dirty looks knowing they were just messing with her. A knock came at the door and it opened up and a very loud and very familiar voice yelled out to the them. "Hello! Kakashi my rival we're here and with the power of youth I vow to defeat you in poker or I'll do five thousand vertical push ups!"

Naruto of course went to meet his 'Uncle Gai' and hugged him, "Ah Naruto-kun, how are you? Had the power of youth see you through school?"

"You know it Uncle Gai, believe it!" he gave him a thumbs up and Kakashi shuddered at that.

"Gai! What have I told you about poising my son's mind with that crap?" Kakashi yelled at the green glad ninja, apparently even off duty he still wore that bright green jumpsuit. He noticed the other two men with him were Asuma and one of the new Special Jonins; he had short brown hair, a bandana on his head and was chewing on what looked like a senbon needle. He tried to run through the list of names in his head and came up with Genma Shiranui. They greeted everyone and soon after got things rolling, they took their seats as they started to talk about the usual things, missions, gossip, and such.

Naruto came was seated next to his dad as he watched and was trying to figure out the game. That is after they calmed Gai down about ruining Naruto's youthful sprit. And so the poker night started off, they traded a few stories and talked about what was going on, although they had to keep the more graphic parts toned down since Naruto was there, even though he was begging to hear all the 'cool ninja stories' as he called them.

When Naruto found out that Asuma was the Hokage's son he asked him if beards and smoking ran in the family. That caused Asuma to laugh a bit and he guessed it did, although his older brother had to stop since his wife did just have a baby. Kurenai seemed a little intimidated by being in a group of people like this, especially since Gai, Asuma and Kakashi were full Jonins which was the highest rank to gain other than Hokage.

But after a drink and some coxing from Anko she managed to loosen up a bit and she had to admit the interactions between Kakashi, Gai, Naruto and Anko made for some very entertaining evening.

At one point in the game Asuma looked at Kakashi as he was looking at the cards he was given, "hey how come you got to wear that mask Kakashi? It's not fair for the rest of us."

"Consider it the ultimate poker face," he smirked behind it.

"I still think he's cheating by counting the cards," Genma said checking his cards to make sure they weren't marked as well. "Besides how do we know the kid isn't cheating for you?"

"Just because you suck at this doesn't mean you can blame Naruto," Anko grinned and threw in a few chips.

"What are you his mother?" Genma asked her as she gave him a glare, earning him one from Naruto as well. Kakashi saw this and he didn't like sore losers, and he let one of his hands drop out of sight of the board and hang on his side, luckily Naruto noticed this. Then he saw his dad starting to give him one handed signs. One of the things his dad taught him was sign language, with both one and two hands. Naruto grinned under his mask as he made an excuse to get a drink of water, he returned later and gave his dad a wink knowing he was ready.

The game continued until Kakashi 'accidentally' dropped one of his chips, "Naruto can you get that chip for me? I don't trust taking my eyes off my cards in a room full of ninjas."

Naruto nodded his head, "sure thing dad." He went under the table and got the chip but also pulled out a tube of industrial strength glue. He went over to Genma and got ready, "Genma-san can you raise your foot it's wedge under it...no the other one. Thank you."

After gluing both feet to the floor Naruto gave back the chip to his dad and made an excuse to go to the bathroom. Genma was closer to the kitchen and asked him to get some new drinks since they were running low, after a little convincing he signed and went to get up, that's when his feet stayed in place making him fall flat onto his back. He swore as he nearly swallowed his senbon needle and looked to see how his feet were now glowed to the floor.

He glared at Kakashi, "you bastard you and your boy did this when he was under the table!"

Kakashi gave an innocent look, "why whatever do you mean?"

At this Anko had lost it and was laughing so hard she resting her head on the table pounding on it, Kurenai was trying not to and hiding a hand over her mouth and Asuma didn't care it was hilarious. After everything calmed down and Kakashi loaned Genma some spare shoes saying he would give him his originals when he managed to pry them off the floor later the game continued. Naruto also returned and he could see Genma giving him dirty looks, but there was no malice in them.

Naruto however was getting board, "I don't get it, why is this game so much fun? It looks so easy all you got to do is match up the cards don't you?"

"It takes a bit more than that," Asuma said as he tried to go for a cigarette but got yet another warning from Kakashi, he didn't allow smoking in his house if Naruto was there, besides his son was short enough as it was and didn't need to be any shorter. That earned him a dirty look from Naruto as his height was a sore subject for him.

"Well it looks too easy for me," Naruto crossed his arms.

"Oh really?" Anko said and looked to Kakashi, "Why don't you let him join in and show the little chibi how hard the game is."

"I'm not a chibi!"

Kakashi had enough chips as it was and put a third of his into a new pile as Naruto smiled and went to get a chair.

"Kakashi how can you let a child play poker!" Gai said standing up and pointing at him, "This is most unyouthful! It's bad enough he learns this game but to let him play, what kind of father are you?"

"Huh? Sorry did you say something Gai?" Kakashi asked in a blank stare and Gai face faulted at that.

Naruto returned and they dealt him in, after all what were the odds of Naruto staying in longer than ten minutes? An hour later Naruto somehow had amassed most of the chips, Asuma just couldn't believe the little kid was this good and what was worse the boy still didn't understand all the rules as he asked now and then if his hand was good or not, and it usually was good. The others just couldn't believe his luck and Kakashi was starting to plan that as soon as Naruto was old enough he'd hit a few casinos.

With that boy's luck he could gain enough to make a nice sum of money for retirement that is if he lived that long, since it was rare for active ninjas to die of old age, well he'd make sure it would go to Naruto then if that happened.

Genma was banging his head on the table swearing to himself about chibi-Kakashis and ringers. Pretty much after that night Naruto wasn't allowed to gamble with the Jonin unless it was when Kakashi brought in the new guys who didn't know of Naruto's talent. Over a year he would manage to squeeze a lot of cash out of his fellow ninjas before word went around of Naruto and his deadly poker skills.

**-Hyuga Compound-**

Hinata was training with her cousin Neji in one of the larger training areas, or more likely he was trying to teach her, she had been learning a bit with him. She couldn't help but notice just how much better he was than her. She was breathing hard as she had been pushing herself as hard as she could, she had seen Naruto-kun train and he never gave up. She also wanted Naruto to notice her a bit more but she wasn't sure why, she liked him but why was it that she got so nervous around him? Sure she got nervous with everyone but with him she felt more nervous.

He also made her happy and safe, ever since that night he saved her Naruto had been something very special to her. She also felt weak and she hated being scared, she wanted to be strong and fearless like Naruto seemed to be. She got back into her fighting stance as Neji got into his as he watched her throw the first few strikes. He dodged them and countered with his own hands, he couldn't seal the chakra points but he didn't want to do that anyway. He had noticed how his cousin had been training herself very hard lately.

They continued on until Hinata looked like she was struggling to still stand, he stepped away and dropped his hands.

"Neji-niisan?" Hinata asked.

Neji was still getting used to her calling him that although he still felt that he had to use a respectful tone with her, at least in the compound outside out of ear shot of others he could be a bit more relaxed around her.

"I think we should take a break Hinata-san, why don't we have a drink?" He motioned over to the deck where they had some water. Hinata wanted to argue that is if it was in her but she just nodded and went over and sat down taking some of the cool water. Neji looked at her and was wondering what was going on with his cousin lately, "Hinata-san why are you pushing yourself so hard?"

Hinata jumped a bit in surprise and started to fiddle with her fingers as she looked down at the ground, "I...I need to be stronger, if I want to be a ninja then I can't be weak."

Neji nodded his head thinking he was seeing where this was going, he knew that she had lots of confidence problems after all she was the eldest daughter of the her uncle and would one day lead the clan. That was a lot of weight to put onto the shoulders of a little girl. He thought back to something his father had told him.

_It had been a week after Hinata's failed rescue as he had been training very hard, he had been upset that someone had tried to take not only one of the clan but his own cousin. It was only thanks to Naruto that she had been saved and he had ended up in the hospital because of it. He honestly was starting to like Naruto, he was odd, loud and came off as an idiot at times but he was totally loyal to Hinata and his friends. He never gave up or backed down and he had a determination in him that was harder than steel._

_It was those qualities that made Neji see what Naruto was like and so he pushed himself to new heights. _

"_Neji my son come here."_

_He turned to see his father and stopped what he was doing and looked up at his father, he was smiling down at his son and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Neji my son I think you have much potential maybe even the most potential that has ever been shown in many generations."_

"_Thank you father," the young boy beamed up at him. "I want to be the strongest there is."_

"_And why do you want to do that?" his father asked._

"_Most of the Main family looks down at us, I want to show them that the Branch members aren't the weakest that we can be just as good."_

_His father smiled at his son, "that is a nice reason my son but it's not a good one. Son let me tell you how you can become truly strong..."_

"Hinata-san I respect that you want to get stronger but you should get strong for the right reasons," he told her and she looked at him with confusion. "My father said that people get strong for many reasons but the best reason is to get strong for others to protect them like the Branch family protects the Main family. If you want to be strong you should do so for the rights reasons so who do you want to gain strength to protect?"

Hinata was taken aback by that and thought about it, and soon a blush reached her cheeks. She played with her index fingers again as she thought about a boy she wanted to be strong to protect, and that was Naruto. He had nearly died because of her and she didn't want him to do that again, she wanted to be able to protect him like she had.

Neji smirked seeing his younger cousin act like this and got an idea of who she was thinking of. "I'm sure he's someone that is worth getting strong for."

Hinata made a small 'eep' sound as she actually managed to blush even deeper. She tried to say something but it took her awhile to be able to speak. "W-who are you getting s-s-strong for?"

Neji gave her a small smile as he got up he walked off a few steps before stopping and looked over his shoulder at her, "my family, and I mean all of my family."

Hinata got the full meaning of those words and knew that he meant her as well. She felt happy at that and gave him one of her warm heartfelt smiles. She felt she had enough for the day and wanted to see if she had any homework left. As she walked on her way to her room she saw her mother go into her little sister's room. Lately she had been very worried for her mother she hadn't been herself for a long time now.

Hinata moved to the doorway and watched her mother put her younger sister in her crib and sit down on a rocking chair, she looked at her mother and she seemed so tired. Hinata walked up to her mother nervously, "mother is something wrong with you?"

She looked down at her precious daughter and stroked her face lovingly, "I'm just sick dear."

"S-s-sick?" Hinata asked worried.

She gave her a small smile, "it's okay I'm getting medicine and seeing a doctor so try not to worry alright?"

Hinata nodded her head but she couldn't help but feel something was very wrong with this, her mother was pale and she was tired a lot lately. She was eating less and she couldn't tell if her mother had lost weight because of the robes that the clan favoured. Hannah reached down and picked up her child seeing how worried she was and held her close. Hinata just held her mother tightly as her mother hugged her.

Hannah had been seeing the doctors and healers and she had been taking the medicine but she was still suffering from headaches and she couldn't even activate her eyes anymore because it hurt so much. She was starting to get very worried but she tried not to show it, she wanted to beat this, she wanted to see her daughters grow up and see what kind of women they would turn into. She even wanted to live long enough to have another child if possible but the fear that her time was growing shorter was always there.

She still had hope at least, that the next few treatments would send it into remission and give her more time but until then she just had to hope and she wanted to live her life with her family. Her precious children meant so much and she didn't want to leave Hinata, and have Hanabi grow up without a mother, and to leave her husband alone. She was happy with her life and would fight with every fibber in her being to stay here. She felt Hinata's body against hers and felt the sting of tears in her eyes, her daughter had such a good heart and she wanted to see it grow.

She knew that her daughter was something special she had a quality that she had seen in only one other little boy. She smiled at the thought of Naruto and how Hinata seemed to idolize him, and was on her way to a crush as well. She wanted to see what would happen with them and see if she could give her daughter advice on boys when the time was right, to do all the things that mothers and their daughters did. She wanted to do all of that and so much more.

'_I will not give up, I have to go on for my family.' She_ thought strongly to herself hugging her precious daughter.

**Next up Chapter 16: A Princess' Pain**


	16. A Princess' Pain

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 16: A Princess' Pain**

Hannah Hyuga was sitting in the garden taking a rest, she did that a lot these days it seemed. She had been going in for treatments but she wasn't getting any better in fact she was just getting weaker and some days she couldn't even get out of bed because of the pain she was in was too much for her at times. She tried to put on a brave front along with her husband but she knew that even Hinata knew something was wrong. The doctors had told her that her conditioned had worsened and that taking her eyes was no longer an option.

It had run too far too fast in her and was now attacking her brain. But today was one of her better days, they were looking for a new healer from outside the village who might be able to help her. She didn't want to just give up and die she wanted to stay with her family. She watched the flowers blowing in the soft wind and she could see how beautiful the day was it was one of the things she loved about this village there was just this timeless beauty to it all.

"Hannah-sama."

She turned to see one of the Branch members bowing slightly to her.

"It is time for the meeting now."

"Yes I'll be right there," she stood up and walked there making sure that any sign of her weakness wasn't showing. She was a proud Hyuga and wouldn't look weak in front of others and besides she was the Matriarch of the clan and she couldn't be seen as weak. But it wasn't easy even though her husband had asked her to take a few days rest now and then but she didn't like being in a bed all day, she couldn't stand that.

She was just walking when she felt another stab of pain in her head but this time it was much worse, she felt sick to her stomach and her nerves were on fire. She only made a chocking sound before she fell to the ground. The Hyuga member was scared to death at this and ran to her calling her name, when he put her onto her back he noticed a trail of blood coming out of her nose and ears. She wasn't waking up and he yelled out for help.

Across the village in the ninja academy Hinata was spacing off as Iruka was going through a lecture on concealment. She had been having trouble focusing lately and she didn't know what to do, this thing with her mother was scaring her. Her mother kept saying that she would get better but she didn't seem to be, in fact she only seemed to be getting worse. She was scared and didn't know what to do. It didn't go unnoticed as well among her friends, as they saw the change in her as well.

Normally she was just the shy girl but now she was practically withdrawn most of the time, it was really worrying for them to see her like this. Naruto had even tried to cheer her up with his usual attitude and threw in a few pranks but she never once reacted. Of course everyone else did and he got his usual detention after school but he was still worried about her, he had talked to his dad and he didn't know much about what was going on either.

Naruto had talked with his close circle of friends and no one seemed to know other than she was worried about her mother. Ino's mother heard that Hinata's mother wasn't feeling well lately and no one could remember the last time she had came to the school to pick her up. Usually it was her father or her uncle.

So they would watch and see if they could try and be helpful for her, Naruto however wanted to know firsthand what the problem was. After all Hannah Hyuga was one of the first adults that he had made friends with and he was worried too if she was sick. He waited for the last bell to ring as he packed away his school stuff and saw her slowly walking to the door.

"Naruto you think that Hinata will be okay?"

He turned to see Ino there with Sakura looking just as worried.

"I don't know but I intend to find out for sure what's going on Ino." He told them and both girls nodded wishing him luck they knew how close the two were.

Naruto managed to catch up with Hinata as she was waiting for someone from her family and he walked up next to her, "Hinata-chan what's wrong? You've not been yourself for awhile and it's starting to worry everyone."

She blushed a bit and she looked at the ground, "I'm sorry I-I-I didn't mean to w-worry everyone. I'm just w-w-worried for my mother."

She then felt a warm hand grab hers and she gasped looking at him in surprise as she stared into his blue emotional eyes and she felt the warmth and comfort coming from them. She gave a small smile as she felt his strength reaching out to her.

"Hinata-sama," a familiar voice said to her.

They looked to see Neji there but there was something wrong. His face was grace and there was just something about him that said there was something really wrong going on.

"N-Neji-nichan?"

Neji looked crest fallen as he spoke the words to her, "Hinata there's...Something happened to Hannah-sama..."

It was then that Naruto felt Hinata grip his hand tightly and he squeezed it back letting her know that she wasn't alone.

**-Hyuga compound-**

Hinata ran into the compound hearing about her mother, thankfully Naruto was there with her as she wasn't sure if she could have made it back on her own. The sky was getting dark and she wanted to know where her mother was. Finally she saw her uncle there and ran over to him.

"Uncle Hizashi!"

He knelt down to the young girl as she came running up with tears in her eyes, he noticed his son and Naruto with her both had on looks that wanted to know what was going on. He sighed as he placed a hand on her shoulder seeing her nearly break out into sobs.

"What's wrong with mother?" She asked him.

"Hinata...As you know she's been very sick lately and, it looks like it's been getting worse. You're mother didn't want you to worry and she put on a brave face she wanted to fight this and hope that she could beat it, but..."

"She's going to be okay though right? She'll get better?" Naruto asked him and Hizashi couldn't lie to them. They were all going to be ninja one day and they needed to face the reality that people died. He just wished it wasn't such a harsh lesson on them especially his niece who was the kindest person he had known in his life. Looking at her face broke his heart inside and he sadly shook his head.

Hinata broke down into sobs as her uncle cradled her against him.

Inside one of the rooms of the mansion Hiashi was with his wife who was sleeping now as the healer had given her something to take away the pain she had been feeling. He looked down at his wife, she was so very pale and so very weak. They had both been hoping that they could have beaten this but the healer didn't look like he could do anything.

"I'm sorry Hiashi-sama but it's gone too far, I'm afraid that the disease has just spread too far, too fast. There is nothing more we can do other than make her comfortable."

Hiashi didn't want to admit that his wife was dying, there had to be something that could be done something that could save his wife. But he knew they had tried everything they could think of, they tried looking for specialist in this but the few they were able to find hadn't been able to do anything. Bloodline poisoning was a rare disease and so little research had been done into it, plus it was devastation sometimes it wasn't caught in time so there had been deaths that until after an autopsy revealed what had caused the death.

He walked over to her and stroked her long hair lovingly, "How much longer?"

"I'm sorry but it's in the final stages, she may or may not last the night."

Hiashi nodded his head closing his eyes and told him to leave. When the man was gone that's when he lost all the strength in his legs and he fell down next to her, he never cried in public but for the first time in years he felt the sting of tears on his face. He held her hand and kissed it knowing that this was the last night he would have with the woman that was the love of his life, the bright spot of his soul, the only woman he had and would ever love. She was everything to him, and the mother of his precious daughters and he couldn't bare to lose her.

It felt like someone was ripping his insides out, like he was falling and the end was not in sight. He didn't know how long he knelt there until he felt a hand gripping his own and he looked up into his wife's face.

"Please my love I don't want to see you like this," she told him.

"I can't help it, the healers..." he couldn't even finish the sentence.

"How long?" she asked him knowing full well what was happening to her. It was strange she had known she had been dying for months and yet here she was on death's door and she was strangely calm about it all. Maybe it was because she could finally stop fighting, she could finally just stop and rest, she was so very tired of fighting this. She was tired of the near constant pain, the tiredness, and the worry of what would happen to her and her family.

Now she didn't have to fight anymore and she knew her family would be in pain but it would endure. They were strong and she knew that they would live on, and it wasn't like she had a bad life, she found love and had two beautiful daughters. She just wished she just had a little more time, she wanted to see Hanabi take her first steps, to see her girls' first crush, first date, first heart break, first time she caught them doing something inappropriate with a boy like her own mother had with her.

She wanted to see them fall in love, she wanted to see them get married and to see grandchildren that she could spoil rotten. She wanted to be with her husband through all of this, to calm him down the first time the girls would bring a boy home. There was just so much but now there was just no more time for it.

"Please Hiashi-kun...I want to see my family. I want to see them one last time before the end."

He nodded his head and kissed her lips and she kissed them back, it would be their last kiss and she felt so sad at that. She wanted to say so much to him and yet there were only a few words that could say what she felt for him.

"I love you so much, you made me happy and I'm glad that I had you in my life."

"I love you just as much Hannah-chan, and I'll love you forever," he told her as he caressed her flawless face burning the feeling of it into his mind. He went to get the others and gather them, he found that Naruto was with his daughter and had thought of telling the boy to go back home but seeing how he was comforting his daughter maybe it was alright to let him stay. After all in a way he had become 'family' to the Hyugas, he had befriended both Hinata and Neji and he knew that despite his attitude and those pranks of his, he had a good heart.

He turned to see his brother there and he asked him to get Hanabi from the nanny that was looking after his youngest daughter. It was time to gather up the family for a final farewell.

Hinata came in seeing her mother propped up on her bed holding her baby sister, she looked so pale and weak and she was glad that she was holding Naruto's hand. She needed him here for this as she walked over to her bed side seeing her entire family in the room.

Hannah looked over at her oldest daughter and smiled at the sight of her holding the boy's hand. It was so cute and she was happy to see it, for one of the last things she wanted to see was that her daughter would be cared for.

"Hinata come closer."

"Y-y-yes mother," Hinata said trying not to break down again.

Hannah reached out and caressed her daughter's face and smiled at her, "I'm so sorry that I won't see the beautiful woman that you'll grow into Hinata my dear. I'm sorry that I won't see Hanabi either and I'm so sorry that I have to leave you all."

"No! I don't want you to go mother!" Hinata cried out clutching her mother's arm.

"I don't want to either dear but my time is nearly up and I wanted to spend my last moments with the people I love the most. I tried to stay strong and to keep myself alive, I never gave up but I guess I wasn't strong enough. Hinata just know that I'll always love you and your sister and that I'll always be watching."

Hinata just nodded her head crying her heart out, and Hannah looked over to Naruto seeing the red eyes the boy had from his own tears. She smiled at the boy with the mask on and she remembered that first day when a curious child with whisker marks on his face came up and asked who her daughter was who had been hiding behind her legs. They had been good friends for one another and Naruto had always been there for her daughter.

"Naruto-kun..." Hannah said to him.

"Y-yes Hannah-san?" Naruto said to her it was the few times he ever used the term 'san' with someone and meant it.

"Please look after Hinata for me, watch over her while I can't be here physically. Be there for her and always be someone she can depend on." She asked this child.

Naruto nodded, "I promise and I never break my promises..."

"I know that's why I asked," Hannah said with a small smile.

The night was a cold one, there was no moon in the sky as it was blocked by clouds and they were there to help make Hannah more comfortable. Hannah talked to her family and she didn't look sad she didn't want their last memory of her being sad. But then she was feeling so tired, she wanted to rest she just wanted to rest a bit before the end.

"I'm...so tired..." she said weakly.

"I know you are," Hiashi said trying to not chock on a sob that he was holding back and held her hand. "Rest now my love."

"I always loved you my husband, look after our family...I'm...I'm happy to have had...a family like this...I love you all so...very..." She closed her eyes and she looked like she was falling asleep. Hiashi with a shaking hand felt for his wife's pulse, there it was but it was weakening. It was slowing down more and more and then finally it stopped.

He waited for a minute but the life was gone, he used his Byakugan and he saw the fading light of her chakra, he watched as it slowly dimmed to nothing. Then he deactivated his eyes and hung his head as his wife was dead. Hanabi suddenly broke out crying in her uncle's arms almost as if she could sense that her mother was dead.

Hinata felt her eyes water up and when Neji tried to put a hand on her shoulder she turned and ran.

"Hinata!" Naruto called after her watching her go he turned to see Hinata's father fall gently to his knees holding his dead wife's hand. Hizashi looked at the two boys.

"Go and find her," he said to them gently and they nodded and ran off. He walked over to his brother and knew the pain he was going through, when he lost his wife it had nearly devastated him as well. He would let his brother grieve for his wife and then he would help him deal with her loss, he had helped him when his own wife had died and now it seemed fate was switching the positions. He walked out of the room to help and put Hanabi down for bet and maybe see if he could make the child less upset.

Naruto ran through the night looking for Hinata, he tried the playground first but she wasn't there and then he tried the ramen stand, the school, and anywhere else he could think of. He wanted to find her and he wanted to make sure she was safe. He was still trying to process that Hinata's mother was dead, it just didn't seem real to him. She had been one of the adults that always had been nice to him and she was everything that he figured a mother should be. Sometimes he was envious that Hinata had a mom like that but now she was gone.

He felt his tears sting his eyes feeling like someone had ripped something out of him, he hated this feeling but he had to search for Hinata. Then he remembered one of the areas they played together since they were younger it was an open area in a forested part of the village, his dad took him there to train sometimes for teaching him wilderness stuff, although to Naruto it had been more like camping with his dad. He had showed Hinata that once and he made a promise to her that they would camp out there one day.

He ran to that place and his lungs were burning and he stopped scanning the darkness. He thought that he had guessed wrong and was about to move on when sobbing noises got his attention. He followed them around a tree and there huddled there was Hinata crying. He hated seeing Hinata cry, he felt like crying himself and he did something he hadn't done in a long time, he pulled down his mask for her to see his face.

He bent down next to her and gently touched her shoulder, "Hinata-chan..."

Hinata jumped at the touch and turned to see who it was, she slowly saw in the moonlight that it was a boy but then it took her a moment to know who it was. It was Naruto but without his mask, she hadn't seen his face in over a year and she had missed it, she missed seeing his smiles and those whisker marks on his face. His blue eyes which usually were full of energy and happiness were filled with sadness. She tried to speak but her throat had a huge lump in it, and she just lunched herself into Naruto burying her face into his chest.

Naruto was shocked by her sudden movement but hearing her cry like this was tarring him up inside. He just held her close trying to comfort her but he felt his own tears falling as well. He cried for her pain, the pain of her family and for his own pain at having one of the precious people in his life taken away. They just held each other as they cried on each other trying to find comfort with each other.

"W-w-why!?" she sobbed into his chest, clutching at his clothing with her fist.

"I don't know," he said softly chocking back his tears holding her tightly to him.

"Why my mother?" she asked again.

"I wish I knew Hinata-chan, she was the best mother I knew." He told her as she was shaking a lot from her crying. "I know this; I wish I had a mother like that. I never knew my mother but there were times that I wished I had Hannah-san as a mother. You were so lucky to have a mother like her."

Hinata buried herself even more into Naruto, his warm body helped to keep the cold she was feeling away, and it wasn't just the cold of the night but from the death of her own mother that was affecting her. She didn't want to let go of Naruto, she felt safe in his arms, she felt like he could help keep the pain from swallowing her whole. She felt his hand stroking her hair and her back and she cried herself into exhaustion.

Naruto heard that she had stopped and looked down to see that she wasn't awake anymore he pulled on his mask and hoisted her onto his back as he started to carry her all the way back to her home. It was long and hard since he wasn't used to having all that weight on his back but he endured. He wanted to see her home and when he got to the gates the guards let him in immediately as they went to send word to stop looking for her. Naruto found Neji who had on a sad look in his eyes, they looked at one another not sure what they could say in a moment like this.

"Can you help me put her to bed?" Naruto asked him, he nodded his head as he led the way without a word. They got to her room and Neji pulled back the covers as Naruto placed her in there, they took off her shoes and covered her up. Either one knew what they could do for her, although Naruto didn't want to go home he didn't want to leave her alone. Thankfully his father came to find him and when he learned of everything they both stayed to look after her for the night.

Hinata's father had not been seen, he had been too wrapped up in his own pain to function in public for the moment. His brother was standing guard over his room with a grim look on his face, the loss of Hannah would hit the clan hard but it hit family the hardest. She had always treated him and Neji well and he respected her, to lose your wife was the greatest pain a husband could endure just as he knew his twin was enduring this dark night.

The next day and for the rest of the week Hinata and Naruto didn't come to school, their friends found out by the end of the day why when Iruka told the class about Hinata's mother. Those that knew Hinata felt horrible for the girl. Someone was asked to bring the school work to Naruto and Hinata so they didn't fall behind and Ino and Sakura were the first to do it. Everyone went to visit Hinata the next day and they found her with Naruto as he was helping her through it all. They had never seen Hinata look like that in their lives and the image would be burned into their memories.

They were there for her and even though she didn't show it, she was thankful for the support of her friends. Naruto refused to leave her side for long periods of time, for the first few days he actually stayed with the Hyugas in a spare room as Hinata had trouble sleeping. He would always be there for her and she would use him to cry on.

After the funeral Hinata was in a deep depression, Neji knew what it was like to lose a mother at a young age himself was a very strong comfort for his cousin as he knew his father was helping Hinata's father as well. That whole year was tough all around on Hinata and her friends kept by her side and Naruto most of all was always there for her. It took time but Hinata finally did smile again and laughed again, but the pain would always be there for her.

Naruto could see when she was starting to feel that pain and would do everything to cheer her up. But by the end of the first year in school Hinata had managed to cope with her mother's death and was thankful for having so many people there for her.

**Next up Chapter 17: As the years go by**

**Yep a time skip to just before the genin exam is up next, and sorry folks who wanted Hinata's mother to live but I planned this out from the start. And if you cried well good, that means that my writing really hit its mark.**

**Also I have two other story ideas, one where say Naruto is adopted by the Uchihas at birth making him and Sasuke brothers but I don't know who to pair up in that and no not Hinata since I don't think with all the bad blood between the clans it would work out. So any ideas for who to pair up Sasuke and Naruto with? Also any ideas for teams since I'm not sure I can keep them on the same one.**


	17. As the Years go by

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 17: As the years go by**

The last few years had it's ups and downs, Naruto of course was doing well in school and although he was doing great at the physical skills of a ninja, Sasuke beat him out of the scholastic scores. Over the years they had formed a strong rivalry always trying to outdo the other in everything. He had to admit though one of this favourite moments had been when Sasuke had been a bit too annoying Naruto tried out a technique his father taught him. Mainly you pulled someone under the ground so just their head was left.

Naruto knew this one well since his own father pulled it on him during sparing matches from time to time, and he hated that move. But he had to admit pulling it on someone else was sure worth it, Sasuke had been livid as he tried to get out of the ground and just to add insult to injury he had also taken one of his father's books. He still remembered that day with Sasuke glaring at him and Kiba on the ground holding his sides.

"Oh man this is great!" Kiba roared as his very own dog Akamaru that he had gained last year. His family had finally thought it was time for him to get his own dog and he loved that day when on his birthday no less he had been given his own puppy. The two were inseparable and the small white dog was barking as well.

Shikamaru had to admit it was pretty funny and so did Choji, thankfully it was just the guys at the moment as well.

"Hatake you better get me out of this or so help me I'll kick your masked ass!" Sasuke said at him.

"Aw and here I was going to read you a story," Naruto said sitting down and pulled out one of his father's books.

"Hey what's that?" Kiba asked.

Naruto grinned under his mask, "Just something of my dad's, now let's see oh here's a good part."

Naruto read on and he had to admit seeing Sasuke turn bright red from embarrassment was hilarious. Choji had actually stopped eating and looked frozen, Shikamaru was trying to stare up at the clouds with a blush on his face, Kiba however was on the verge of a nose bleed but wanted to hear more. Naruto was thankful for the mask as well.

"Naruto what are you doing!?"

They turned to see Ino and a few of the other girls walking towards him looking a bit pissed.

"Just reading a story to Sasuke and I think he likes it." Naruto grinned.

"No I don't you idiot and get me out of here already!" Sasuke said still all red from what Naruto had read to him. He had never thought those kinds of things before and he was seriously getting pissed off at still being stuck in the ground.

"Naruto get Sasuke-kun out of there right this minute!" Ino demanded at him.

"Fine but finish the story will for the guys will you?" Naruto handed her the book and she looked at it curious as to what it was. Sakura and Hinata were also there and looked over the blood's shoulder and started to read over her shoulder. All three girls had to admit it looked like some kind of love story, something to do with some type of forbidden love of two members of opposing clans. It was very romantic how the two characters were admitting their live for the other, then they kissed, then kissed some more...and...didn't stop.

The girl's got very red in the face and Hinata actually feinted at that point thankfully Sakura caught the girl as she was as red as her dress. Ino suddenly dropped the book like it was poison.

"Hey careful that's one of my dad's books," Naruto said hauling Sasuke free.

Ino marched right over to him and looked at him, Naruto saw the fury in her eyes and tried to say something in his defence but never got the chance to open his mouth as Ino slammed her fist into his face, "You perverted hentai!"

The girls didn't talk to him for a week after that, although Hinata tried to talk but the images in her young mind kept making her feint when the subject came up, plus she couldn't look Naruto in the eyes after that. Although even she had to admit Naruto had the beating from Ino coming to him for that, although she did forgive him first out of the girls, Sakura lasted another week giving him the silent treatment until he apologise for the hundredth time, as for Ino well he had to promise to help out with her chores at the flower shop for a week straight.

That wasn't the last thing either, Naruto had discovered by his twelfth year in life girls, woman and just how good they looked. It didn't help that when Kakashi tried to teach Naruto about the 'birds and the bees' he read his Icha Icha book to him. Although Naruto now knew more about sex than he ever wanted to know, although he personally didn't understand a few things like if it was really possible for a three some to work in real life. When he was learning the hedge technique he had been trying to find a way to beat his father in their sparing and an idea formed.

It took weeks of practice but he finally got it down, the next time they spared he unleashed one of his ultimate secret justus...the Sexy Jutsu. Kakashi had been so shocked to see a young teen and very cute and beautiful naked girl with such an irresistible pout on her face he didn't have time to recover when the hedge dropped and Naruto scored his first solid hit on his father.

Kakashi looked up from his spot not sure to be proud of his son's inventive nature or he should wonder where he came up with that idea. He got up and dusted himself off and looked at his son who he knew was grinning under that mask of his. He looked at him for a moment before speaking, "I'm not even going to ask Naruto but I'd be careful about that around certain people."

"It's my anti-pervert move dad, it works great on them." His son laughed.

"How do you know it works so well?"

"Easy I used it on the Old Man and several others and they were laid out with huge nose bleeds! It was great!"

"Just don't use that in class I don't need to come after school again this week," Kakashi said as he got himself ready. "Okay so now you got two choices son, you either can do the three climbing exercise to improve your chakra control or sword fighting training."

Naruto wasn't sure what was worse, the tree climbing he learned six months ago and it took him forever to get that down and it was boring. Although he did admit it did work really well but although the sword training was a lot more fun he usually ended up with lots of bumps and bruises. He ended up with the sword training he could heal quickly after all so he didn't mind. Kakashi grinned under his mask as he was hoping for that, now he could get him back for using that new technique on him.

After a few hours Naruto managed to end his training for the day and ended up walking around the village. He was still feeling some of the blows his dad had given him and was wondering if that was bordering on child abuse with the training at times. He was grumbling about his father not being able to take a joke and was wondering what he could do today.

He knew that Kiba and Shino would be busy working with their families today, Ino and Sakura were most likely training today as well and those two could be scary when they got into competitions. Hinata was getting some training with her father and little sister as well. Naruto thought about his best friend and was glad that she was back to her old self although he missed Hannah Hyuga when he visited the Hyuga home. Hinata's father was a bit more stern after that but thankfully it seemed his brother was able to help curve that a little.

Then he thought of Neji and a smile broke out under his mask, he had graduated last year and was put on a team of all people his Uncle Gai, he laughed his ass off when Neji told him that. He actually felt a bit sorry for Neji he knew that Gai could get a little overboard with training but he was interested in meeting the team, there was this kid Lee that sounded nice and a girl Tenten as well. He hadn't seen his Uncle Gai and Neji in a long time too with the missions they went on. He knew where they trained and he decided to take a little look to see what this team was like.

**-Team Gai training grounds-**

IN the field that Team Gai used their sensei was currently teaching Lee some more taijutsu moves while Tenten was sparing with Neji, and he had to admit he liked this team, sure they were a bit unorthodox but then again knowing Gai beforehand helped to adjust faster. That is he thought it would before him and Lee got this very close bond the led to some disturbing scenes. Although at the moment he had to concentrate since if he wasn't Tenten would cut him up to pieces. With his bloodline activated he saw the incoming weapons and would step out of the way, or deflect them.

She was very good, she moved with speed and agility and with such deadly accuracy that he actually wondered if she had any Hyuga blood in her family. She always would smile and laugh as they spared even when he tried to remain focused and passive. In a way she reminded him of Naruto only less hyper and not as loud. She was easy to get to know and even though he never told anyone he actually found her attractive but never hinted at it.

He knew the risks of getting involved with a teammate and also what it would mean down the line, the seal on his forehead was an ever constant reminder of what awaited for his own children and he didn't think a non-Hyuga would cope with that being done to their children. He was pulled out of his thoughts as he caught someone watching from a branch, he smirked to himself a little as he reached a pause in the sparring.

"Tenten can you send a kunai seventy-five degrees high, and fifteen to your right into that tree over there?" He asked her and he saw her confusion, "We have an uninvited guest."

Now she understood and quickly threw her kunai into the leaves. A scream was heard as someone fell out of the tree and landed heavily onto the ground. The training stopped for the entire team as Tenten got a good look at the boy, he looked to be about a year or so younger than her, with blonde spiky hair and wore black pants with an orange stripe on the side, an orange t-shirt over a black vest with pockets and a black mask with six orange slash marks that looked like whiskers.

"Damn it Neji you told her to do that didn't you!" Naruto accused the older boy pointing a finger at him.

"Oh I didn't know you were there Naruto." Neji said faking innocent.

"Bullshit! She could have killed me!"

"Hardly, Tenten can hit a target one hundred times out of a hundred, give her a target and she'll never miss." Neji said to Naruto who paused for a moment to take that in as he was impressed with it but then went into yelling at the boy a bit more. Tenten felt her cheeks slightly heat up at Neji's compliment of her abilities it was nice to know he thought of her skills so highly.

It was then that he took a good look at the girl with Chinese puns and a pink styled shirt. "You know Neji you never said you had such a pretty girl on your team."

Tenten actually felt a slight blush on her cheeks from the compliment, she never focused on her looks but it was still nice for a girl to hear that from a boy now and then. Neji however had a slight flash of emotion on his face that Naruto caught when Neji saw the girl blush from the compliment.

'_Oh so Neji may finally like a girl huh? Oh I so have to tell Hinata this, maybe we can have some fun and break him out of that Hyuga shell of his.' _Naruto grinned under his mask seeing Neji give him a slight glare.

"Ah Naruto-kun one of my most youthful friends!" Gai jumped into the scene and took one of his poses.

"Hey Uncle Gai how's the training going?" Naruto asked.

"Wait, _Uncle_ Gai?" Tenten asked, she had no idea that Gai had any other family other than his parents.

"Actually Naruto is the son of my friend and rival Kakashi Hatake, but I've known Naruto-kun since he was a young boy and he thinks of me as an uncle." Gai told them.

"Wait Kakashi...Wasn't that the guy you lost a came to rock, paper, scissors to?" Tenten asked.

Naruto smiled under his mask, "So what's the score is my dad ahead now?"

"Kakashi may be ahead but I will soon pull ahead of him and show him that the power of youth prevails over all, right Naruto!" Gai said and then noticed that Naruto was examining his finger nails.

He looked up sharply, "Huh? Oh sorry were you saying something Uncle Gai?"

Gai face faulted at that and then jumped up, "There's that hip and too cool attitude of your father! You should embrace the power of youth Naruto!"

Neji just shook his head he had seen this many times before, but still he had learned to enjoy the show when Naruto would act like Gai to get under his father's skin and then act like his father to do the same for Gai. It was also how he managed to convince the two adults into several competitions of his own choosing. He never forgot the one when they had to go from one end of the village to another balancing an egg on their noses or the time he suggested wrestling a muddy pig.

"It's always the same with them," Neji sighed.

"Neji how do you know this guy anyway?" Tenten asked.

"He's friends with my cousin Hinata for years and well, he's sort of become a friend of the Hyuga clan," he explained to the weapons girl. Tenten was wondering how the kid managed to do that, it was rare for any clan to admit friendships to someone outside of the clan and the Hyugas were no exception to that.

"Naruto I want to introduce to you one of my prize pupils, this is Rock Lee!" Gai said introducing a young boy that looked almost exactly like a younger version of Gai. The boy had been waiting for the right moment to jump in and to introduce himself.

"I am Rock Lee and I'm honoured to meet a family member of Gai-sensei even if you are not related by blood, I can see the fires of youth burning bright inside of you!" Lee proclaimed to him and giving him his own pose with blinding smile and a thumbs up.

Naruto looked at the boy for a moment before turning to Gai with a deadpan expression on his face, "Uncle Gai have you been performing illegal cloning experiments on yourself? Is he your secret love child or something or did you turn someone normal into a copy of you?"

Tenten starting into fits of giggles and Neji had a small smirk on his face with that one.

"Naruto although I wish Lee was my child sadly he is not but he is a true genius of hard work just like you are Naruto." Gai told him.

At that Lee's eyes lit up with fire, "Naruto is it true that you are a genius of hard work? There are many geniuses like Neji here who are gifted with talents for being a ninja but then there are those of hard work that Gai-sensei says work hard to surpass others."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Well, that's what Uncle Gai always tells me but I have to work hard if I want to be Hokage one day!"

"Ah! That is a worthy dream, you truly are inspired to reach for great heights! My dream is to be a great ninja even though I can't use Ninjustu or Genjutsu, but I will not let that handicap me and I will show them all that I will be a great ninja!"

"Wait you can't use either?" Naruto asked and learned of how Rock Lee's chakra coils were abnormally underdeveloped to the point he couldn't use them like a normal ninja. He listened and yet this boy trained his heart out in Taijutsu and knowing Gai he was training hard. "Well I guess then we have something in common then, I have abnormally large chakra reserves or so my dad says and he says that it also causes me to have the worse charka control he's seen. It's hard for me to do the simple things because of all the chakra in my body, I still can't do a simple clone yet and it took me forever to learn the other things."

"But I work hard to overcome that and I will reach my dream of being Hokage!"

Tenten sighed, "Great now we got another one..."

"I wouldn't dismiss Naruto just yet he's not your normal or average ninja," Neji said to her and she looked at him surprised. "You see when he was a small boy he managed to save my cousin from a kidnapping attempt and gravely injure a ninja, he also took a kunai to the chest and lived."

Tenten's eyes widened at that and looked at the boy who was being challenged to a spar by Lee and who seemed excited for it as well. She was trying to figure out the puzzle that was Naruto Hatake and she and Neji watched as Lee got into his usual fighting pose and Naruto got into one fighting poses that his father taught him.

Gai of course was being the referee at this point and he called the match a go, Naruto leapt out first as Lee stood his ground. Naruto threw a punch only to have it intercepted, so he twisted with a kick and Lee jumped back. Naruto didn't stop though he had to keep Lee moving and guessing as he tried to see what kind of fighter he was. Thanks to some training from Gai himself he knew a bit of the style that Lee was using but obviously Lee was knew a lot more about it then he was.

There was also something that caught his attention as they fought and that was that Lee was really, really fast. He was definitely faster than he was and when he felt a blow land there was some serious power to it. Naruto took a hit to his shoulder and went with a roll to take the shot and jumped back up facing Lee. It was times like this he wished he knew some offensive justus but all he had was the training things like tree climbing and the academy stuff with the exception of clones.

Tenten and Neji watched with interests as Naruto took the pounding by Lee but just kept on going, in fact Naruto managed to get Lee with an elbow strike to the ribs at one point when Lee left an opening for Naruto. Neji watched knowing that Naruto trained a lot and with different teachers, he could see the influence in his fighting style which was a mix of various moves from Kakashi, Gai's own style and what he assumed was from that woman Anko who really gave Neji the creeps.

Tenten was impressed that a boy still in the academy was holding out so long against Lee, she had to admit the blond certainly was giving Lee a workout and she noticed that as the battle went on Naruto seemed to find more and more weaknesses in Lee's style. It wasn't much to give him an edge but it did allow Naruto to dodge and get out of the way of the more powerful moves now and again.

"Man how come you're so fast Lee? I mean I train a lot but I'm not that fast," Naruto said ducking a whirlwind kick to his head.

"Gai-sensei has me on a special training regiment that increases my speed and strength." Lee said dodging a few aerial kicks by Naruto.

"Hey Uncle Gai how come you never tried that with me?" Naruto asked him while fighting.

Gai smiled and chuckled a bit, "I did but you're father thought it was too much."

"Oh how so-OW! What the hell!?" Naruto had went for a block with a kick from Lee by kicking the boy's shin but instead of flesh and bone there seemed to be something else covered by the orange leg warmers. Naruto was hoping on one foot holding his shin cursing as Lee stopped in respect.

"I'm sorry Naruto I didn't meant for you to hit my leg weights."

"Leg weights? What kind of leg weights do you have on?" Naruto asked rubbing his shin. Lee looked to Gai and the man nodded his head and so Lee pulled up the leg warmers and Naruto's jaw dropped. There was a huge set of weights hidden there, actual bricks of metal and Naruto was thankful he didn't break his leg on it. Then another thought hit him as he saw the weights in order to move as fast as he was without those weights he would destroy him within seconds.

For the first time Naruto had met someone that was way above him, at least in speed and strength that he would need to surpass. He made a mental note to talk to his father about weights for himself although he didn't think he could handle those at least not yet.

"Shall we stop for now Naruto-kun?" Lee asked him although he was enjoying the fight. Naruto fought with such passion and intensity. It was very different from how Neji fought, always so controlled and centered. If Neji was a mountain then Naruto was like the wind, and he had seen how Naruto refused to give up at all and only came back with more force and determination. He truly was a genius of hard work and he wanted to see how much more Naruto could put into his fight.

Naruto tested his leg and got back into his stance, "Are you kidding I'm only warming up, I'll just have to remember not to hit that part of your leg again."

With that both boys smiled and started their sparing match again under the watchful eye of the Gai, Tenten and Neji. Naruto tried every move he could think of but so far nothing he had seemed to be able to put the other boy down. At one point he managed to duck then roll under the older boy and with a kick to the ground launched himself behind Lee, but Lee was prepared and grabbed Naruto's wrist and arm and flung him into the nearby trees.

When Naruto was thrown into a tree he thankfully had landed feet first and stuck there, he was glad all those months of practice and training with the tree climbing managed to stick him finally. He jumped off when Lee's fist made contact with the spot he had been at shattering the wood. He flipped into the air and with a midair twist landed facing Lee.

'_How the hell am I going to beat this guy? He's like a mini-Gai and it's not like my dad has given me any justus that I can use on him. Hell I only know of a couple and they wouldn't work on Lee, damn it dad why the hell couldn't you have taught me a fire one like Sasuke has? The only thing I have left is...'_

Naruto suddenly got a brilliant idea into his head and went into a familiar hand sign, Neji saw this and he groaned and covered his face with his hand. He had seen this before and he didn't need to be reminded of it. "Oh no please not _that _stupid thing."

"What, what's he going to do?" Tenten asked him. She watched and then Naruto yelled out a name that she thought was 'sexy jutsu' but she swore she heard wrong. Then there was a puff of smoke and suddenly a very cute naked girl in smoke suddenly appeared.

Lee froze in his spot as his young and innocent mind saw his first naked girl, he literally couldn't even think as his mind just stopped at the image. Gai yelled out in horror at the sight of it and Tenten looked mortified. Everything she had thought about the young boy was suddenly dashed at this blatant perverted act. She held onto her kunai very hard and was trying not to throw it at the boy.

Naruto dispelled it and quickly sent a jab into Lee's chin making the boy fall onto the ground with a stupid look on his face. Well Naruto knew it was a cheap shot but he honestly didn't know any other way to beat the older boy. He went over to make sure there were no hard feelings but the boy just didn't respond to him, he prodded him with his foot and still Lee was there on the ground with that stupid look on his face.

"Uh oh...I think I broke him, hey man you okay?" He picked him up by the shoulders shaking him.

"Naruto!"

From that loud and deadly tone from Tenten he dropped Lee and slowly looked around to see a very pissed off girl, she was suddenly having a small twitch in her left eye. "What the hell kind of jutsu was that!? Do you know how perverted and also how offensive that is to female ninjas?"

"Uh...no not really," Naruto said and quickly dodged a kunai being thrown at him thankfully Anko gave him plenty of practice with avoiding. "Wait-let me explain-will you stop throwing those-come on Tenten it was just a joke-hey that one nearly hit! How many weapons do you have on you anyway!?"

"Die you pervert!"

Neji signed as he looked at Gai was trying to snap Lee out of his catatonic state and at Tenten trying to kill Naruto. He looked to the ground as his shoulders slumped, "This was why I didn't want to introduce Naruto to my team, he's nothing but pure chaos."

**Next up Chapter 18: Preparations for the Test**


	18. Preperations for the test

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 18: Preparations for the Test**

It was nearly the day of the final exams the day they would all be ninja and the kids were kind of excited over it all. But there was one person that was actually worrying and that was Naruto of all people, he and his friends had been training all this time to make sure they all passed as they were in a special training spot in the woods that Naruto had found a few years ago. There was a cabin where they could keep supplies and plenty of space to train. But Naruto however was having a large amount of difficulty with the one jutsu that would make him pass the test.

He had his physical skills down now and it took over a week for him to get the henge just right but now he was having a lot of trouble with making clones. Whenever he tried it they came out sickly and just lay there on the ground looking like death. He tried and tried and yet he couldn't get it to work right. He was currently in the area with his friends and once again was trying to make a clone. There was the puff of smoke and he looked to his right hoping that this time he got it, but it was just another failed clone there.

"Damn it why the hell can't I get this!?" Naruto shouted out in frustration.

"Naruto what the hell is wrong with you?" Ino asked hands on her hips, she had changed her style over the years. Her hair was longer now into a ponytail and wore purple. "Are you just messing around or what?"

"I'm not Ino it's hard!"

"I did it after two days so why can't you do it?" Ino asked getting irritated with her friend. "How can you be so good in so many things and yet suck so much at other things?"

"I don't know if I did I would figure out a way around it already," Naruto sighed and slumped his shoulder feeling a little depressed.

"I'm still surprised you can still try and make clones I'd be too tired to stand with how long you've been at it," Ino sighed as she sat down on the ground.

Shikamaru who was as usual on the ground turned his head to face Naruto as something clicked in his head. In all the time that he had known Naruto he seemed to have nearly unlimited energy and he was wondering is his chakra mirrored that. "Naruto how much chakra as you using?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head thinking about it, "I don't know I just use whatever I can."

"Naruto," chided Sakura at him, "You have to use a set amount for clones didn't you pay attention to that in class?"

Sakura had also grown over the years, she chided Naruto at times and she kept him in line. The young crush she had on the boy was still there but she wasn't sure if she liked Naruto as a friend or more these days. It didn't help matters that Naruto seemed to have taken up a slightly perverted side that annoyed her to no end. Her hair was still short, she had thought of making it long like Ino since she heard Sasuke liked long haired girls but she had asked him if she looked better with long hair, he only grunted and walked off.

Naruto had commented that she looked cute with short hair so she went with Naruto since he was honest about these things. Okay so he could be really sweat when he wasn't being an idiot or perverted. Sometimes she wondered why the top two boys in the class had to be so difficult, Sasuke was handsome and intelligent, strong and cool. But he was so cold to everyone and you couldn't get close to him. Naruto was the opposite of that, he radiated warmth and made you smile. Too bad he sometimes was too hyper, his pranks were childish (even though she did find a few of them very funny) and the aforementioned moments of being an idiot and perverted.

It was like Naruto was the sun and Sasuke was the moon and sometimes she felt that both were just unattainable.

'_Why can't both boys be more like the other?'_ She thought to herself.

'_**Yeah that would be great if they were one boy! They would be totally hot!'**_ Inner Sakura agreed.

Sakura mentally sighed and wondered if this inner persona was the result of some childhood trauma making her have a partial case of multiple personality syndrome.

"Hey Hinata why don't you see how much chakra he's using with your eyes?" Sakura asked the shy girl as the idea hit her, "I mean maybe you can tell how much he's using and he can use that as a way to help him judge how much he's using."

"That's actually a good idea," Shikamaru said sitting up slightly, "With a baseline Naruto might finally be able to tell how much chakra he's using for once."

"Cool! Come on Hinata let's see if you can help me out!" Naruto said smiling at the young girl, if only he knew what his smiled even behind the mask did to her. She gulped feeling a little bit of pressure, she really wanted to help Naruto after all she owed him so much and she wanted him to see her as maybe more as a friend.

Over the years her affection for Naruto had grown over time, he had been there through her long hard period after her mother's death spending a lot of time with her and helping her out. Sometimes he would even hug her when she was feeling low, although that caused her to blush very much and nearly pass out from all the happy feelings that made. He also helped her with Hanabi too, although Hanabi was five years her junior she was very strong for her age, and Hinata was a bit envious that she was that strong.

Her father had hardened a bit over the years, he never really smiled anymore but with her uncle around he wasn't as bad as he might have been. She had been afraid that her mother's death would have hit him so hard that he would have never recovered and in a way he never had, it was like most of the light in his life was gone and she felt sad for her father. He never showed it but she knew that he was hurting every day that she was gone.

She faced Naruto and made a hand seal and activated her eyes, she saw the world in black and white like a photonegative and for the people she could see their chakra network, the blue lines that ran over their bodies. She watched as Naruto gathered up his chakra and she saw it was too much.

"W-wait Naruto-kun that's too much." She told him and he stopped.

"Huh? That's too much?" He asked her confused and she nodded her head. He sighed and tried it again, but again she told him he was using too much. This went on for five more times before Ino was getting very frustrated with this whole affair.

"Damn it just use as little chakra as you can!" Ino yelled out losing her patience.

"That_ is_ the least amount that I _can_ use Ino! What do you think I've been trying?" He yelled back at her.

"Hinata how much was that?" Sakura asked the young girl wondering just how much chakra Naruto had.

Hinata began playing with her finger tips looking down, "About t-t-twice what Ino uses normally."

Ino's eye brows shot up from that as did Shino and Shikamaru's. "He's using twice as much as me normally!? How the hell can he use that much and that's the small amount? Okay sure I don't have the most amount but I still got an average amount and you're telling us that he's using double?"

Hinata nodded her head.

Shikamaru sighed, "Man what a drag no wonder you can't get this Naruto. Until you learn how to limit the amount you use I doubt that you'll ever get the chance to actually use it properly. You need a low amount to make a clone that's one of the reasons they teach us this move. But if you use too much it won't work so that means..."

"Yeah it means what?" Naruto asked him.

"You're screwed," and with that he laid back onto the ground.

Naruto looked at his friend and heard Kiba snicker at the comment, he shot Kiba a glare before glaring at the lazy boy. "That's it? I'm screwed that's all you can say?"

"Well what do you want? I can't make it so you can use less chakra and I don't know how you can do it without a lot of practice and training." He responded.

"But the test is at the end of the week, that's only four days I'll never get it down by four days." Given how long it took him to learn how to tree climb learning a whole new way of controlling his chakra in the given amount of time was nearly impossible. He was really worried that because of this he wouldn't be able to graduate with the others and he really wanted to become a ninja along with all his friends.

Hinata saw the worry in him and wished that she had could have done more to help him, she was wondering what she could do to help him and then an idea entered her mind. They weren't that experienced but there were others that were and perhaps that Naruto's father would have some ideas.

"N-N-Naruto-kun, what about your father, w-w-would he have any ideas on how to do this?" She asked him.

Naruto looked shocked but it was just that he felt stupid with not asking his dad sooner. He beamed at her and quickly jumped over to her and gave her a huge hug. "Hinata-chan you're the best!"

He didn't hear the soft 'eep' sound that she made when he grabbed her or how she was blushing bright red, she felt light headed with him hugging her like this and it felt nice as well. She could feel his warm body pressed up against hers and the warmth of the emotions even, it felt so good and she wished she could move her arms to hug him back.

A part of her mind wanted to hug him back so much, and much more as well. She had dreams like this, first the hugging would come and then he would look into her eyes with those bright blue and wonderful eyes of his. He would tell her how beautiful and strong she was and that he loved her. She could tell him that she loved him too and he would gently pull down his mask and she would see that cute face with the whisker marks on it again.

He would smile that smile of his that melted her heart and made her legs shake, and their lips would gently touch.

But as soon as it happened it was gone, the hug ended and so did her little day dream with it and Naruto was running off to see his father. Hinata however was swaying back and forth feeling all warm from his embrace and a smile was on her face, from the hug and from her own thoughts she had just had.

"N-N-Naruto-kun..." She said softly before he fainted and landed onto the soft grass. Kiba and Shino went to her quickly as did Choji as they made sure that she was okay.

Ino sighed and shook her head, "Boy that girl has it bad for him. Should we tell him that his best friend as a huge crush on him because I honestly don't know when he'll figure it out."

"It's too troublesome," Shikamaru sighed thinking on just what it would take to get Hinata to admit to her own feelings let along to Naruto gave him a headache just thinking about it.

Everyone knew about Hinata's crush on Naruto with the exception of the blonde, as they helped her up Sakura had a worried look on her face. She did like Naruto but she didn't want to hurt Hinata given that she was a close friend. She had nearly lost her friendship with Ino over Sasuke but thanks to Naruto smoothing things out between them they were still friends. She still wore the red ribbon Ino had given her years ago and yes they both chased after Sasuke from time to time but Sakura's attention was split so it wasn't with her whole heart that she went after Sasuke and Ino guessed that meant less competition for the dark boy's affections.

Not that Ino or any other girl seemed to get any, Naruto made a joke about him being gay and both Ino and Sakura had hit him for it, plus the other girls of the Uchiha fan club gave him death glares for even suggesting that the boy they all crushed on was gay and they had no chance whatsoever with him.

At any rate until her mind/heart was made up she had no idea which boy to go after but she wouldn't lose a friendship over it. She watched as Choji and Shino trying to wake the young girl up and if she chose to go after Naruto she would give the young girl a fight but she would be fair about it. She would give the other girl a chance to at least admit her feelings to the boy and see where it went. After all maybe Naruto would only like Hinata as a friend?

'_**But what if he likes us only as a friend?'**_Inner Sakura said with a hint of worry. Sakura bit her lip but decided she could live with that, after all there was still Sasuke after all.

It took some times but they managed to get Hinata to wake up and she felt embarrassed over what had happened to her. She really wished she could stop doing that but it was just so hard for her

Hinata walked home by herself feeling slightly embarrassed that she had fainted like that in front of everyone but it was just whenever Naruto was that close when he did things like that it always made her hart pound so loud she could hear it and feel it, she just totally lost it and she wished she could just gather the strength to tell him how she felt and to be able to not faint. She sighed, out of all of her friends she felt that she hadn't changed much. Although she had taken an interests in medicine shortly after her mother's death but mainly just medical herbs and such things like that, she didn't want to become a medical nin.

But a good idea on healing salves, potions and antidotes had become a new hobby for her, Sakura and Ino helped her with an herb garden on the Hyuga compound that she maintained to help her with that, even Naruto helped out from time to time much to her joy. She walked into her room taking off her jacket that she had been wearing for a few years now. What no one knew was just how well developed the girl had become over the years but she was too shy to show it hence why she always ware large clothing, well that and she felt it was just very comfortable as well.

She heard someone walk up to her door and looked to see her younger sister Hanabi, she looked very much like their mother hand although she could see a bit of their father in her. She looked like she had just finished a training routine. Hanabi was always training very hard, she knew it was in part from their father trying to ensure his daughters were strong in life, but also she suspected it was because Hanabi didn't want to be put into the Branch family like their uncle had been.

There might have been some animosity in them but there wasn't, they weren't as close as she would have liked as Hanabi acted a lot like their father so she reserved herself a lot of the time.

"Hello Nee-Chan."

"Hello Hanabi-chan how was practice with Uncle?"

"He was helping me with forms today, it was hard but he says that I've been improving a lot lately," Hanabi then noticed some dirk on Hinata's jacket and she tiled her head a bit, "were you training as well sister?"

Hinata looked confused and then Hanabi pointed out the dirk and she grew bright red seeing the dirt there from when she had fallen onto the ground. "Uh, I w-w-was with my friends and I s-s-sort of fell..."

Hanabi knew what that meant having seen it happen before, "You really should tell Naruto-nisan how you feel."

Hanabi had known Naruto all her life and even though she had never seen what was behind that mask he was always there for her big sister and her. She could remember Naruto and Hinata looking after her and even training with her. He was also one of the few people that could make her laugh or smile with his antics. He was always there and over the years she thought of him as the big brother she didn't have. It was also painfully obvious that her older sister had feelings for him and she secretly wished that they would get together.

Although she didn't like boys, Naruto was another story. He was good to her family and her sister obviously looked up to him and was totally smitten by him. Plus if Hinata and Naruto got married then he really would be her older brother even if her brother in law.

Hinata looked down as she did that thing with her fingers again, "I...I want to tell him...b-b-but what if he doesn't feel the same? I know he kind of likes S-S-Sakura and he's got all those other girls after him and they're stronger and prettier than I am."

Hanabi hated it when her sister got like this it honestly just pissed her off, "Where is your Hyuga pride sister? You are a Hyuga of the Main family and the heiress of our clan, you are above those others girls and you should show it. If you want Naruto-nisan then take him as yours as if it were your right. If he doesn't feel the same then he's an idiot for turning down a Hyuga since we don't give our hearts to those outside the clan freely."

Hinata felt a bit ashamed and not for the first time she wished that Hanabi was the heiress and not her, Hanabi even though younger was more confident and stronger and would make for an excellent leader. But she couldn't even get the courage to tell the boy she had liked for years that she liked him and wanted more than just friendship. Not for the first time she wished she was stronger and that she wished her mother was still alive to go to and get advice from. She couldn't go to her father or uncle because it would be awkward for both parties.

I, I just wish I knew I had a chance...I don't want to lose him," Hinata said in a low and soft voice.

Hanabi heard it anyway and sighed, "If you don't do something you'll lose him anyway."

**-Hatake Home-**

Kakashi was sitting at home reading one of his novels again, he loved the books. Yes they did have some dirty adult content but that was besides the point, well okay it was also a big selling point as well since he had learned some very interesting techniques from the book. Hard to believe that the writer of these books was the sensei to his sensei, but then again he remembered a few times when Minato tried to act a bit perverted around his then girlfriend (and later future wife). The poor blonde man never knew what hit him sometimes.

He sighed remembering them and he hoped that he was doing well by Naruto, he wanted to protect Naruto more than anything and not just because it was out of duty and loyalty for the man that had been like a second father to him. He honestly did love Naruto like a son, it was strange but Naruto helped him to ease away the loneliness of his life had become. With his two best friends and teammates killed, his father dead, and then his teacher his life had been so empty.

He book down his book remembering his birthdays, how the Hokage sometimes liked to have Naruto in his office to babysit while he had been on a mission. Naruto said he liked it because he could learn how to become a Hokage himself one day. He remembered the first time he met Hinata and he could see the bond that had formed over the years with those two. But Naruto had lots of friends now and an extended family as well.

He had to admit things were never dull in his life, although he did like the quiet moments such as now.

A sudden banging sound of the front door was heard all over the home and Naruto's loud voice calling out to him. Kakashi sighed knowing that the only quiet he would get when Naruto was at school. He casually walked to find his son running through the house looking for him.

"Dad! I need you help with something important!"

"What is it son?" Kakashi asked him.

"I can't do a clone because I can't use as little chakra as the other kids but I need to make a clone or else I won't graduate and I want to pass with all my friends, can't you teach me something that will help me pass? Come on there's got to be some trick you can help me use less chakra or something? How about some type of restraining chakra thing, or maybe some kind of jutsu that can get me around it!"

Kakashi blinked wondering how he could have said all that in a rush in just one lung full of air, he shook his head and started to think about it. He knew this issue would come up, Naruto's chakra control was bad at the best of times but he had gain more control now after years of practice. But he still had trouble with the simpler stuff because of the limited amount of chakra you needed to put into it.

Basically it was like trying to force a ton of water through a small pipe. Kakashi knew that the test was coming up and he didn't want to see Naruto fail. But in order to get his chakra control that good would take a lot longer than he needed to train Naruto for this. If only there was a way around doing a simple clone then...an idea hit him.

"Naruto you said that it's a clone test right?" Kakashi asked him and the blonde nodded his head quickly looking up expectedly, "any type of clone at all?"

Naruto thought about that one, "All Iruka-sensei said was the tests would be physical skills outside, then a written one, a henge and finally a clone but he didn't say what kind. Hey are there different kinds of clones?"

Kakashi nodded his head, "Yes there are and I could teach you one but you have to understand Naruto this clone isn't the typical one. It can be dangerous and no one your age should even attempt it, but with your high concentration of chakra you might just be able to pull this off."

Kakashi wasn't kidding about this being dangerous but desperate times called for desperate measures. He had been hoping that Naruto would have gotten enough control to do a simple clone but it looked like he might have to teach him this one. He could use another type of clone than the one he had in mind but in all honestly he felt that Naruto could learn it, besides there was a bit of his pride telling him how great it would be for his son to learn such a high level jutsu in such a short time.

"It's going to be a lot of hard work Naruto and if you can't handle it I'll call it off understood?" He said in all seriousness.

Naruto looked up at him not backing down from his challenge, "I can do it dad, I don't care what it takes I will pass and be a ninja and I'll make you proud of me."

'I already am proud of you Naruto,' Kakashi thought to himself with a smile. "Alright then let's get you started on training for the new clone technique, this Naruto is called the shadow clone justu."

**Next up chapter 19: The Final Test**


	19. The Final Test

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 19: The Final Test**

It was early morning but Naruto had been up for an hour anyway, it was still quite but that would soon change. For the past few days he had been training with his dad and now he knew he could pass that test now for sure with his secret weapon that he had. It was also thanks to this secret weapon that would allow him to pull of the biggest prank of all time that this entire village would have seen in history. He didn't even want to think how long it would have taken him without the new jutsu it would have taken him all night to do instead of fifteen minutes tops.

Naruto had gained several reputations over the years but one that he was most prideful of was that of a prankster like no other. He really had a taste for it and it didn't help that his father had a trickster side to him as well. Like the time he slipped fire crackers into Gai's vest, or the time his dad placed a stuffed life sized fake replica of himself during a meeting that he skipped out on. Apparently it took five minutes after the meeting for people to realize it wasn't him since it was holding a copy of one of his famous books in front of the face.

But with his life of a ninja ahead of him Naruto knew that he would have to put away the pranks for awhile, maybe even for a long time since he would be too busy for it. But if that was the case then he wanted to go out with a bang with the biggest one in history. Everyone would remember this day and it would be something that would be talked about for generations.

He grinned to himself as he added the last bit of paint and was wondering how long before the first ninja showed up to get the one responsible for it, it turns out he didn't have to wait long after the son rose when people got up and saw what he had done.

Anko was one such person, she had gotten up and went right for her morning coffee, she was not a morning person and liked to sleep in. She yawed as she waited for the coffee to get ready trying not to all asleep at her kitchen table, when she finally had her cup she walked past one of her windows but then froze. Her sleep fogged mind could have swore what she had just seen outside of her window couldn't have been real. She took a quick step back, took a look and spit out her coffee out the window.

"What the hell!?" She yelled out seeing the Hokage monument all painted up, there were childish marks all over it in various paints. It took her only a moment to realize who had the balls to pull something like that off and she just started to laugh her ass off. She literally fell on her ass laughing and holding her stomach as she spilled her coffee but she didn't care she was awake now.

"Oh god that kid is too much, I swear if the kid lives I'll buy him a drink when he gets to be the right age," she laughed to herself.

She wasn't the only one to see it, Hinata was still asleep when Hanabi burst into her room.

"Hinata you have to see it!"

"See what?" Hinata muttered rubbing her eyes.

"Someone painted on the Hokage faces!" Hanabi told her and Hinata wasn't sure she had heard her younger sister correctly.

She quickly put on a robe and ran out with her sister where her father, uncle, cousin and other members of the family were standing outside staring at the paint all over the most prized monument of the entire village, something that gave tribute to their greatest leaders, a sense of pride and it was all painted over by childish scribbles.

"Who on earth would do such a thing?" Hiashi asked out loud.

His twin brother smirked as an idea came to him, "Ask yourself this brother, what masked person do we know that has a reputation for pranks and would have the gull to do something like this?"

Hiashi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose he should have known this had Naruto's flair all over it. He was surprised that boy would pull something like this off. He would assume the boy had at least some respect for adults and his elders but then again, he did keep calling the Hokage 'Old Man' all the time and he was sure he purposely 'mistook' him and his brother all the time on purpose.

Neji signed and hung his head he wasn't sure if he should be impressed that Naruto pulled this off or turn him in if he saw him. Hanabi and Hinata didn't know what to think, although it was pretty funny they both knew that Naruto would be in so much trouble when they caught up to him.

"I wonder if they caught him yet?" Hanabi voiced as Hinata looked worried and bit her lip.

Their uncle was curious and activated his bloodline and scanned the area, he had a small smile on his face, "Well that is certainly surprising...again. He's being chased by at least a dozen jonins and chunins."

Hiashi activated his eyes as well and saw them chasing Naruto and the boy seemed to be having fun giving them the run around then he noticed something else, they weren't chasing just one Naruto. He looked closer and his head snapped back as he realized what he was seeing, it should have been impossible but there was one thing he had learned with Naruto and it was that nothing seemed impossible for the boy.

"I can't believe he's using that technique," he said as his twin nodded his head seeing exactly the same thing, "that boy is full of surprises."

"Yes...certainly makes things interesting doesn't it brother?" he said smiling as Neji looked confused at his father wondering just what was going on here. He tried his own eyes but he didn't see the big deal at least at first until he noticed it too. Hanabi and Hinata didn't have the range just yet to see what was going on but they could tell that something that Naruto was doing had their attention.

Others were already waking up to the chaos that would be talked about for years to come, Ino had walked out of her home and stopped dead at the sight her jaw dropping, Sakura was mirroring this from her window and wondered what possessed Naruto to do some of this stuff sometimes, although she would never admit it, it was kind of funny. Shino just raised an eyebrow but beneath his coat he was smirking. Choji nearly choked on his food when he saw it and Shikamaru had been cloud watching, he had took one look said how troublesome it was and just went back to his clouds trying to drown out the noises.

Kiba was of course laughing his ass off at this, he couldn't believe Naruto did that but he had to admit it was the ultimate prank. Sasuke had been on a morning jog until he saw all of this, he palmed his face wondering why Naruto had to be such an idiot at times. Although that was pretty impressive but totally useless, if Naruto put all that effort into his training he could have been a great ninja. Sasuke just shook his head and started off on his run.

After several hours Naruto had finally been caught, by all people his teacher and boy Iruka was pissed at him. Naruto had to clean the entire mountain up before school and it took awhile since he didn't want to ruin the surprise thankfully he used a water based paint figuring this might happen. He tried this once before with real paint and had to wash that off and it took forever and that had just been a wall this was a mountain side.

So by the time Naruto got to school he was already tired and his hands ached but he was smiling under his mask, he could already see many of the people talking about him but he didn't care he liked any attention and this was a day that no one would forget.

"There he is!"

Naruto jumped at the sound of a pissed off Ino and looked to see her storming towards him with her friends in tow.

"Oh hey there Ino-chan how are things?" He asked innocently.

"Don't you Ino-chan me buster what the hell were you thinking doing that? You want to get in trouble on the last day of school?" Ino said punching him in the arm, he winced from the blow it was thanks to Ino and sometimes Sakura that he learned that just because someone was a girl didn't mean they didn't punch hard.

"Naruto honestly that was a bit overboard," Sakura chided him she really didn't want to see him kicked out before he made ninja all that hard work would be for nothing and she didn't want to see him fail.

"Personally I think it was funny as hell," Kiba laughed and then got a fist to the top of his skull by Ino and Sakura.

"Don't encourage him!" both girls yelled out as he fell to the ground holding his skull, Akamaru whimpered at his heels not going to bark at the girls as he was smart enough to know that when they got like this it wasn't smart to get in their way.

"Hey I just wanted to go out with a bang as a ninja I won't be able to do anything like that anymore," Naruto tried to explain, "Besides I cleaned it all up."

"That's not the point Naruto, you could have been seriously punished," Sakura told him.

He rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah okay I'm sorry but still it was pretty cool!"

That earned him a smack to the head as he was now on the ground like Kiba as both Ino and Sakura walked into the school angry leaving the others behind. Shino didn't say anything he just shook his head and sighed as he walked into the school, sometimes his friends should learn when to keep quiet.

Naruto eventually made his way inside rubbing his head, he saw Ino arguing with a few girls on who would sit next to Sasuke again, he should have seen that happen and the fact a few girls were giggling at him and waving him over to their seats as well. He sweat dropped at this, he gave a weak wave back and looked to see that there was a chair with Hinata and Sakura which he was thankful for. He was safe with them from the fan girls, he didn't know how Sasuke could handle the mob that followed him around since Naruto only had half the number, apparently being the 'bad boy' as well as 'totally mysterious' was all some girls needed.

He sighed seeing Sasuke enter the front of the class and walk up to him, Naruto smiled at his rival got up closer, "Hey Sasuke did you see my greatest prank of all time?"

"Why must you waste your time with such idiotic things?" He sighed and shook his head, how a boy like him got to be the only one that could challenge him was beyond the avanger's understanding.

"Ah you're just jealous that I did something that you could never do," Naruto waved it off throwing in his 'too cool' attitude of his father in there it didn't work as well on Sasuke like it did on Gai but it usually got some kind of annoyed reaction out of the young Uchiha. What both boys didn't notice however was that the argument with the girls got to the point when shoving started to happen and one unfortunate girl next to Ino had been pushed by another girl and fell backwards.

That wasn't so terrible for her as he slammed into Naruto's back but this also had a domino effect as Naruto pitched forward and face first into Sasuke as they landed on the ground. In that moment it was dead silence as the entire class watched as Naruto and Sasuke's faces were pushed together. Jaws were dropped everywhere, some of the girls looked like they wanted to cry from not being the first one the boys kissed although a couple were getting nose bleeds as their inner yoai fan girl side went into overload.

Naruto jumped off the boy as both started to nearly retch.

"Oh god I knew it, I knew you were gay! I've been violated by the Uchiha!" Naruto yelled out trying to spike and still keep his mask on, had had never been so glad to wear a mask in his life as it helped to keep the feeling of that 'violation' as he refused to call it a kiss. He knew he would be having nightmares about this for a long time and from the way Kiba was laughing his ass off he would never hear the end of this.

"Me!? I'm the one who was violated you perverted masked idiot!" Sasuke shot back. "You're the one that slammed into me and was on top!"

"Oh hell no I bet you planned that whole thing, why else have you turned down every girl in school!"

"Because I don't like any of these girls you idiot, I want to rebuild my clan but you think I'll just choose anyone? I'm an Uchiha and I have standards to hold up to unlike you and since when have you ever been on a date in your life?"

Naruto didn't like the argument being thrown back into his face, "Oh yeah well I'd kiss any girl here if I wanted to if that would prove I'm not gay what about you?"

At this point the girls were all up asking to be the one to help prove to the boys that they weren't gay to the other boy, sure they wouldn't have the first ever kiss but they would want to have the first kiss they got from a girl. Although Sasuke's words had hurt a bit and deflated several day dreams of winning over the Uchiha's heart the chance to kiss the boy was just too good to pass up. Also many wanted to see what Naruto's face looked like as well as that was one of the biggest mysteries in the school, even Shino's face was seen from time to time with the exception of his eyes.

Thankfully that was when Iruka and Mizuki walked in, the two teachers quickly got their class back into order although Naruto and Sasuke kept giving each other death glares. Iruka sighed wishing it would be a quick day, after the years his group would finally graduate and he was looking forward to the break before the next school course started up. The tests were simple enough, written exam for their final marks to tests their theory knowledge then it was on to the practical stuff. He started off the tests and then it was just a waiting game, he wasn't surprised when Sakura was the first one done of course.

Mizuki however even though he kept a smile on he secretly distasted this village, his old master Orochimaru had left him behind as he had taken Anko of all people all those years ago. He still was angry that he had chosen her over him and then she returns with no memory and that cursed seal and techniques. The woman didn't even use the gift that Orochimaru had given her and she was a special Jonin while she was stuck in the Chunin ranks. He deserved more, to be promoted out of this school but his skills and abilities were always overlooked.

Here he was teaching a bunch of brats when the real ninjas got to go on missions and prove their strength to the world. Strength is what mattered in this world and knowledge of jutsus that was what he learned from his sensei and he took it to heart. But he was denied the skills that Jonin got when they reached that level and could read the Forbidden Scroll for more powerful techniques and moves.

He looked at the brats and internally he hated them, especially a certain few. There was the Uchiha boy who was given everything just because of what family he was born into, he was the last and his clan was crushed and gone and yet they still treated him like a prince. He never liked that clan, just because they were a founding member of the village they had been able to act to tough and push others around. Then there were the Hyuga clan who were just as arrogant and yet the little girl here was so weak it was pathetic. He knew though that she would eventually lead her clan just because of whose daughter she was and it made him angry. She was guaranteed to go far just because of that as well and because he was not from any clan he was overlooked.

It seemed that as long as you were part of a clan the more things went your way and the more you were given. He knew it was rare for anyone else outside of a clan to get to Jonin rank, there was Kurenai who was recently promoted from Chunin just because of her clan, then there was the Hokage's chain smoking son as well. Then he looked at the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi children and how their parents were heads of their own small clans. But there was another boy that stood out for him as well and that was Naruto Hatake.

The Hatake name had been put into disgrace and yet Kakashi had pulled it out of the mud, not a clan but he was well respected but only because of that damn eye he had that was the only reason he made it so far in the village. The man was a lazy, perverted idiot and yet he was considered one of the best only because of that stupid eye and there was his 'son' as well sitting there writing his test.

After the failed Hyuga Kidnapping incident many knew that Naruto held the Nine Tailed Fox inside of him, and even though Mizuki knew that the boy was not the demon he had been close enough to sense that power that night. He knew that the boy was given a great power inside of him and yet he did nothing with it, yet another person to get a gift and why did the Fourth pick him of all people?

Mizuki hated how the village never respected him or gave him what he had earned but being stuck at this school he couldn't gain any missions and he had asked to be put elsewhere but that stupid old man of a Hokage had said he was more valuable here. Mizuki knew that the Hokage was just putting him aside just because he had no name to throw around. The children had finished their testing and it was time for the one on one, Iruka told the children to go outside and wait.

He couldn't understand why his old friend was such a fool, the man actually wanted to stay in his place but then again Iruka wasn't as good a ninja as he was, never had been in his opinion but he wasn't from some 'noble' clan so that was why he had stayed friends with him, even if Mizuki did think the man was naive.

Outside the children waited for their tests, many were worried about this since this was the final tests the one that would prove them worthy to be ninjas something they all had worked years to do, for Hinata she was biting her lower lip in worry. She didn't want to fail and disappoint her family, but she was so nervous and thought that she might screw things up. She was so absorbed that she didn't notice someone walking up behind her until she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Hey Hinata-chan you okay?" Naruto asked seeing how nervous she was.

"Oh! N-N-Naruto-kun, I-I'm just a little nervous I-I don't want to fail."

"Hey there's no way you'd fail, you're a great ninja and I know you can do this so don't worry because I'm behind you I know for a fact that you'll blow this test out of the water." He smiled behind his mask at her and she felt her heart beat faster thanks to his words. Hearing those kinds of words out of his mouth to her made her feel so warm inside and she didn't want to disappoint him.

She gave him a weak smile and nodded her head feeling more confident, her named was called after Ino came out of the room smiling brightly as she was carrying her own forehead protector. Naruto watched Hinata go with a smile and she looked back once and he nodded to her, she gave him a small smile back and walked into the room.

Naruto waited and waited and it was killing him inside, he was so eager to take this test and be a real ninja he would be one step closer to being Hokage with this and he would make his dad proud of him.

"Naruto Hatake."

"Finally! About damn time!" Naruto jumped up and went into the room with the two teachers.

"Okay Naruto we want you to perform a transformation jutsu and then perform a clone," Iruka said and suddenly noticed that look in Naruto's eyes as his hands went to a hand seal that he dreaded, he slammed his hand onto the desk hard and fast. "Naruto, don't even think of using that perverted jutsu you created."

"Aw you're no fun and you seemed to have enjoyed it last time I used it," Naruto whined as Iruka blushed at the memory when Naruto pulled off that naked girl transformation of his he couldn't have stopped the gusher of blood coming out of his nose if he had known it had been coming.

Naruto sighed and went into a simple transformation as there was a buff of smoke and he turned himself into his father Kakashi with his book already out reading it.

"Not bad looks just like him," Mizuki said.

"Yes very good go ahead and turn back Naruto," Iruka said but noticed that 'Kakashi' only was still reading the book. "Naruto turn back now!"

"Just a second I really like this point in the book," the Kakashi fake said giggling like he usually did.

"Naruto," Iruka said in warning and Naruto dispelled it. Iruka sighed and ran a hand through his hair he swore Naruto was going to make him grow old before his time. "Now perform the clone Naruto."

"Uh...can it be any type of clone?"

"Any type?" Mizuki asked the boy.

"Yeah see I have a problem, I can't perform a normal one cause my body has too much chakra but my dad taught me a really cool one that's even better."

Iruka thought it over there really was no rule on what type of clone it had to be, "Okay Naruto just make three clones and that will be fine."

"Alright!" Naruto jumped up and went into the usual hand seals for a typical clone only the last seal was different as it ended in a cross sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Both teachers were shocked when Naruto said that as there were several puffs of smoke and suddenly there were not three but twelve shadow clones. Both teachers were shocked that a boy had learned a Jonin level move and seemed to be perfectly fine with no effects. Mizuki had to really try and keep his composure at this here he was a Chunin being outdone by a boy that wasn't even a ninja. He was taught a move that he had no right on learning and there was only one person that would teach him that.

Iruka was torn between how impressed he was with Naruto and furious that Kakashi would teach such a dangerous move to his own son. But Naruto seemed to be fine and so Iruka smiled at him and stood up, "Well I have to say Naruto you passed with flying colors."

"YEAH!" All of the Naruto clones cheered and started to celebrate eventually he dispelled the clones and took his forehead protector with pride. He held it in his hands grinning from ear to ear with this, it wasn't as heavy as he thought but it was his and he had earned it. He couldn't wait to show it off and quickly tied it to his forehead and looked up at Iruka and smiled behind his mask.

Naruto walked out of the classroom and went into the yard to where his friends were, "Hey guys guess what?"

"Naruto you did it!" Sakura said happily seeing him with his forehead protector, she ran over to him along with the others. Ino and Sakura were the first to hug him making him blush behind his mask as Kiba slapped him on the back a little too hard for Naruto's liking but he let it slide, Shino simply nodded his head towards him and Shikamaru gave a small smile as Choji was doing all the talking to him. He noticed Hinata smiling as she was looking down playing with her fingers with a slight blush on her face.

"Hey Hinata-chan isn't this great?" He said walking over to her.

"Y-Y-Yes it is Naruto-kun I knew you'd do it," she looked up shyly at him giving him a small smile.

He smiled back at her his eyes closed much like his dad did, "Thanks Hinata-chan that means a lot from you."

She blushed deeply at that and her eyes sent to her feet as her cheeks got hot again from blushing even more so. The small group of friends were enjoying themselves waiting for their parents to show up so they could all show off their new status as Genin ninjas of their village. Only one person was watching from a window and that was Mizuki, he looked down at them but he didn't feel proud of them. In fact he was slowly starting to hate them all he had been pushed to his limits with the Hatake boy learning that move.

This village obviously didn't appreciate him at all and had overlooked him for far too long, maybe it was time to do what he had been thinking of for awhile now and join his sensei Orochimaru. He obviously had the right idea leaving this village behind but his old master would require something of value as prove of his skills and abilities. Slowly looking at the children a small plan was starting to unfold and perhaps he could not only gain something of value but ruin some revenge on the clans and those that always had everything given to them on a silver platter as well.

Next up Chapter 20: Mizuki's Plan


	20. Mizuki's Plan

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 20: Mizuki's Plan**

Naruto looked about as his friends all had their Hitai-ates on various places, he was happy that all his friends were ninjas now and he couldn't wait to show it off to his dad, the two at the ramen stand, Anko, Gai and anyone else he could think of. He was so proud that he was a ninja and he was nearly ready to start jumping around all over the village on the rooftops shouting his lungs out that he was a Genin. Unfortunately knowing his dad he was going to be late again, but he was just happy that he passed. He saw his other friends being congratulated by other family and it made him smile under his mask.

"I see you passed too Naruto," said a family voice behind him. He quickly turned to see Hinata with her father, uncle and Neji there.

"Yeah you got it Hizashi-san," Naruto said smiling and scratching the back of his head although it was actually Hiashi that was speaking to him and once again he was fighting off the twitch that had been forming for years from Naruto constantly getting the two brothers mixed up. Of course Naruto knew which was which but he liked to annoy them because railing a Hyuga was so much fun because of how much effort you had to put into it.

He swore one of these days he would break through that Hyuga exterior.

"Naruto," Hinata muttered knowing her father and uncle hated that game of his.

"Yes Hinata-chan?" he asked her innocently.

Hiashi just gave a low sigh and tried not to get a headache from stress at this point, "So did you do well Naruto?"

"You bet I used my super new jutsu that my dad taught me, I may even beat Sasuke-teme out of the genin of the year with it and it will serve the arrogant bastard right if I did." Naruto said confidently.

"The Uchiha Clan was very powerful Naruto their clan helped to form this village and as the last he as much to prove," Hiashi said to him and he couldn't help to add in one more thing, "Besides from what I hear he was ahead of you in all the written tests was he not?"

Naruto face soured at that, he was never very good at the written stuff and Hiashi knew it. It was a small victory for the adult against the boy for once again mixing him up with his twin on purpose. His face had a small twitch again but this was in the corner of his lips this time as he fought back a small smirk as it would not be dignified. But still he was glad to get a shot in at the boy now and then just to repay him for all the years he tried to get on the nerves of him and his brother and other Hyugas as well.

"So Naruto I take it Kakashi is running late again," Hizashi said to Naruto.

Naruto grumbled something about buying his father a watch with preset alarms but just shrugged it off he was used to his father being late all the time anyway. He knew that his father would be proud of him when he saw him later anyway.

"So how did you do Hinata-sama?" Neji asked his cousin.

She blushed a bit as everyone started to look at her and she looked at the ground nervously playing with her fingers, "I-I did well, Iruka-sensei said I made fourth highest in the class."

Her father frowned a bit as he thought about that, "I see well I am glad that you passed daughter although I can see that the Uchiha boy and Naruto would most likely be in the top but who else did you lose to?"

Hinata winced as her father used to term 'lose' as she still couldn't beat her own little sister in sparring matches. She looked disappointed when she said that Sakura managed to get the top marks out of the Kunoichi of the class and she could see that her father was disappointed that she had been beat out by a girl that was not even from any clan and whose family had no known or famous ninja in it. Hinata was left feeling like she had let her father down although he never said anything about it she could tell that he was.

She knew that her clan had very high standards and not making top of the class or even top Kunoichi was just another sign of her weakness and she wished she was better. She tried to train hard but she could never bring herself to harm her friends or family in spars and even though she wasn't stupid she knew that Sakura was brilliant when it came to book smarts. She had beat out all the other girls which did say something to her but still being beaten by a non-clan member was something of a black mark against her.

There was nothing wrong with coming from no clan, but those that were in clans many felt that they had to be a bit above the rest and the Hyuga Clan took that to heart as they always tried to show just how powerful their clan was. Now with the Uchiha Clan practically gone they were the most powerful group in the village and her showing weakness at this time she knew wasn't a good thing for her family. The elders of the clan still held enough power to place someone more worthy as heir and she would have to be put into the Branch family and have the Bird Cage Seal placed on her like her cousin was forced to have put on him.

Hinata hated that seal and wanted the practice stopped but she had no power in her clan and if she was removed into the Branch than any hope of freeing her clan from that would be ruined. She needed to prove herself to the elders so she one day could help stop it.

"Hey Hinata –chan you okay?" Naruto asked seeing her space out in thought.

She jerked to attention her cheeks blushing a bit. "Y-yes I'm fine Naruto-Kun."

He looked a bit closer making her cheeks a bit more brighter at how close he was, Naruto was just looking to see what was wrong with her, "Are you sure you're okay I mean you've been getting all red a lot and warm," he pressed a hand to her head to feel if she had a temperature.

She froze at the contact and how her whole face was red, her eyes widened and before she could say anything she fainted only this time forward and hit Naruto in his head with a headbut, he gave a short outcry as he was hit and fell back and Hinata now dazed fell back as her father caught her. He grimaced at the public display from his daughter and looked to see his brother looking over the dazed Naruto.

"She really needs to get over that shyness of hers brother," Hizashi stated seeing that Naruto was okay.

Hiashi nodded his head at that it was painfully obvious that his daughter fancied the boy and he guess it was something that was bound to happen. The two of them had been childhood friends for years and Hinata was very close to the boy but being a Hyuga made such a thing difficult as dating outside the clan was a very hard thing to earn. Normally the young couple would go to the head of the household or even to him for approval and it wasn't easy. Anyone trying to get into the clan had to prove that they were worthy of the Hyuga that they were in a relationship with, but with Hinata the elders would have to take things over to prevent Hiashi from any favouritism in that matter.

He would admit that Naruto had much potential and the fact this father was a well known and powerful ninja, it also didn't hurt that Kakashi had been the bane of the Uchiha clan for so long with his sharingan eye of his. It wasn't spoken about but many had delighted in the mighty Uchiha bloodline taken and used by another that wasn't of their blood and had also used it far more effectively than any of their members.

After a few minutes of waiting the two children slowly started to wake up, Hinata was so embarrassed by her actions she could look Naruto in the eye, although he just shrugged it off and made light of it.

"Hinata we should go, I have work to do at the estate," her father told her.

"And I should get back to my team we have a training session in an hour," Neji said as his father nodded as he had to go with his twin brother.

Hinata nodded and then looked to see Naruto sitting on the swing most likely just waiting to see if his father would show up or not. She didn't like how lonely he looked as all the others had left with their families and she bit her lip nervously, "I'm sorry but may I stay with Naruto-kun until his father shows up?"

Hiashi had a small raise in his eyebrow but figured he could give his daughter that after all he knew that Naruto would see her home safely, he nodded his head to her and she happily ran off to join Naruto and he stood to watch them and deep down he was smiling at the two of them, he wished that his wife was alive to see this day and he knew that he wanted her daughter to be happy and to be with Naruto and he hoped that dream would come true. But she still needed to get stronger, he had lost his wife but he didn't want to see his daughters die as well that would surely kill him inside. He took one last look before turning and walking away.

While the two children were together there was another person who had been watching with interests as Mizuki was grinning as he thought that he had the perfect opportunity. He had been watching and seeing two of the children alone was a perfect setup, it also didn't hurt that it was the Hatake boy and the high and mighty Hyuga girl as well. He had overheard the conversation with the father and he knew Hinata well enough to judge her physical reaction, she was never very good at hiding how she felt.

Also those two were always together so this would be even easier to make them both take the fall, as if one went the other would go along to help the other out.

He walked over to the two children putting on his friendly smile that he had been forced to wear all the time since he was forced into being a teacher the two children looked at him and smiled back, and why wouldn't they after all he was one of their teachers someone that had always been kind and helpful after all.

"So how are you two doing?" Mizuki asked them and they replied that they were doing good and then he put on a slightly sadder look, "You know Naruto, Hinata it's a shame that you two didn't get any higher marks. Naruto I'm sure you father would have been delighted to learn his son was genin of the year like he had been and Hinata, I'm sure your father would have been very proud that you made top Kunoichi as well."

Both children looked a little discouraged at that and Naruto looked up at him, "You mean I didn't beat Sasuke-teme?"

"Sorry Naruto if only you had scored just a little higher in the written test," he saw the effect of that as Naruto's little rivalry with the Uchiha boy had been a strong one since their very first day together. "Although there is a way for you two to earn some extra credit that could put you both over the top...but it's not easy and I wouldn't offer it unless you both felt you could do it."

"What? What is it Mizuki-sensei I can do anything and so can Hinata-chan just watch us!" Naruto jumped up eager to prove himself better than Sasuke and he also knew how badly that Hinata wanted to make her father proud.

Mizuki looked thoughtful at the two of them for a moment, "Well I could set it up but it's not easy and you can even lose marks off your grade after all, but if you both feel you can do this then I can set it up with the Hokage."

"We'll do it, just tell us what we have to do!" Naruto said before Hinata could voice her concerns over this.

"Well the test is an old one," Mizuki explained to them, "You see if you and Sasuke had tied it would have been given to you both as a tie breaker but as a teacher I can have a little leeway in this. You have to sneak into the Hokage tower using the skill you have learned and steal an old scroll used for this exam. The scroll is pretty old since it's been used for this exam for a very long time, as this helps prepare you for a possible mission as a ninja to steal secret documents."

"But the scroll will be guarded and you have to find a way to defeat the guards and take the scroll to a drop off point, without being caught or followed. If you do you fail the exam and marks are taken off your final grade. Now I will ask you both are you sure you want to try for this special exam?"

"I-I-I don't know about this Naruto-Kun, something doesn't seem right," Hinata said to him. She had never heard of this before but then again it was possible that she couldn't have known of such a thing did exist but it seemed kind of strange to her. Why were only her and Naruto given this, shouldn't Sakura and Sasuke also been given the chance since that would be more fair?

"Come on Hinata-chan we could make our parents proud of us if we do this, think of what you're dad and family will think of you if you make the top Kunoichi in the class."

Hinata bit her lip, she would love to make her father proud of her and his earlier reaction played in her mind and she wanted so much for him to say how proud he was of her. She wanted it so badly that she decided to go with whatever Naruto decided to pick, if he chose to do this then she would go with him and help him out after all the times he helped her it was time she did the same for him.

"I-I'll do whatever you think is best Naruto-kun."

"Alright I knew I could count on you Hinata-chan," Naruto shouted in joy and looked at his teacher. "alright we're in."

"Good," Mizuki smiled at them, "Then it will start in an hour, now let me tell you more about your exam and where you'll be placing the scroll that you get..."

**-Later-**

The sun had set and Naruto and Hinata were just outside of the Hokage tower the two had snuck all the way there not sure what kind of guards that Mizuki would have placed in their way to stop them, so Naruto had asked Hinata to use her eyes to make sure they avoided everyone just to be sure. He was glad that she was here with him, with her he knew that they would pass this with no trouble at all. As they finally reached it Naruto asked her if she could see inside of the tower.

She nodded and scanned the place for the scroll that Mizuki had told them about, he was very detailed about it and she eventually found what she guessed had to be it. It was a very large scroll in a room all its own that was next to the Hokage's office but she noticed that the office wasn't empty.

"Naruto the Hokage is still in there," She told him.

"Crap the Old Man must be in on it too, he must think it's funny to let himself test us but he made a major mistake as I know his greatest weakness," Naruto grinned and Hinata gave him a confused look.

"Hinata keep an eye on me if you spot anyone coming my way, give one of those signals we learned in glass like a bird call or something okay?" He asked her and she nodded once he was off. It wasn't hard for Naruto to get into the Hokage's office after all he had done it countless times to see him over the years. Even when the guards said that he was busy Naruto found a way in, there were more ways in and out than most people knew about and he had found all the little secret ways in. Naruto was making his way to the crawl space that was overhead the office, something he used a lot to surprise the Hokage from time to time when he wanted to 'drop in' on him.

It took some time but he finally made it into the small crawl way it was always dusty and lots of spider webs, he hated those things especially when they got in his face and hair. But he silently crawled in the darkness to his location, he memorized the route by now and stopped to the small hole he made as a peephole to see what the old man was doing. Naruto was confused when he saw that he was working on paper work instead of guarding but he just figured that the Hokage had put this paper work off again and was using the exam as an excuse to get caught up.

'_Well Old Man you should have paid more attention because I'm going to give you the change to act,'_ he thought to himself readying the panel he was now at. With one move he threw the panel aside and jumped down he grinned seeing the surprised look on the Hokage's face it was almost like he didn't expect to see him.

Before the Hokage could say a word he did a familiar sand seal, "Sexy Jutsu!"

Naruto had long since known that the Hokage was a closet pervert after all he had the same books at his dad hidden in the lower left hand drawer of his desk. He was in the form of that sexy teen blond girl with the pigtails giving him the most adorable and sexy look that he could think of. That was all it took for him to defeat the Hokage. Naruto turned back and laughed a bit seeing the old man on his back twitching with the twin blood trails from his nose.

"Okay first take out the guard and now for the scroll, we're so going to pass this exam." Naruto said before going into the room where Hinata had seen the scroll.

It was fifteen minutes later that someone finally showed up to the Hokage's office, and that was none other than Kakashi. He had been late showing up for Naruto's big day which he knew that his son would never let him live down or forget but at any rate he was just going to bribe him with new lessons for being late. He had been so caught up at the memorial stone that he had lost track of time and rushed over to find that Naruto wasn't at the school. He spent the last few hours looking all over the place, he tried home first, then the park, then he rushed over to the ramen stand but they hadn't seen him either.

He even tried the top of the Hokage monument, Naruto didn't think that he didn't know that it was one of his son's favourite spots when he wanted to be alone but Kakashi knew but let him be when he went there usually. But he wasn't there either it was at this point that he was really starting to worry where his son might be. He tried thinking of any other place that he might go and decided that if he wasn't with the Hokage he would try the Hyuga compound and see if he was with Hinata, then he would see if Gai or Anko knew where he might be as well.

When he got to the tower he noticed that there was a lot of activity going on, he was curious what was going on but his son came first. When he got into the office he was surprised to see the Hokage at his desk wiping what looked like blood from his desk. The Hokage looked up at him with a serious look on his face.

"Kakashi we have some trouble," He said to the masked ninja.

Already he had a bad feeling about what this trouble might be, "Just tell me my son isn't involved."

"I'm sorry but Naruto came in here and surprised me with...well never mind what he surprised me with," the Hokage blushed at the thought of that and made a mental note as to what the hell Kakashi was teaching his son to come up with something like that.

He shook the thoughts away to get to the manner at hand, "At any rate he managed to steal the Forbidden Scroll and I'm already organizing a search party for him."

"He what!?" Kakashi's single eye widened in shock, he wasn't sure what surprised him more. That Naruto got past the Hokage that he stole _that_ scroll or even knew that it existed. He was sure that he never once mentioned that scroll and it's not like it's taught in school and he knew that other ninjas that Naruto knew would never say something about that with a child in the room.

It didn't make sense for Naruto to steal that scroll and something was nagging him about this, and if a ninja got to trust one thing it was his gut feelings.

"I'll look for him after all I know him best and might be able to find out where he is." Kakashi said to him.

"Very well but you honestly think the others won't be able to find him?" The Hokage asked.

Kakashi eye smiled under his mask, "Have you forgotten who has been giving him lessons all his life and let's not forget how long it took for him to be caught after painting the monument. I swear the jonin and chunins are still sore that they couldn't catch a thirteen year old boy that wasn't even out of the academy yet."

Although he did neglect to mention that Naruto knew all the best jonin and a few special jonin and they liked him too much to really put some heart into the chase, but the point was still made. He even heard a couple had quite ANBU in order to focus more on their training since even they had trouble catching him.

The Hokage nodded his head as Kakashi made his leave, now outside he started to look around for any signs that Naruto might have left but it seemed that he trained Naruto too well in stealth and escape and evade procedures. He knew that time wasn't on his side since that scroll held a lot of dangerous techniques and he didn't want to think what could happen if Naruto tried to read one and then tried it. Because he knew that Naruto wouldn't be able to resist learning at least one move so he pulled out a kunai and made a small cut on his hand.

He used the familiar hand seals and summoned his dogs, all of them that is.

"Hey Kakashi what's the trouble?' Pakkun asked his master looking up at the man.

"In short I need you all to track Naruto down for me," he told his lead dog.

Pakkun winced knowing that Naruto was in trouble yet again, he swore the kid was always getting into something it seemed. "Do I want to know what he did this time?"

"No time just find him and get me to him as fast as you can, he could be in some serious trouble if we don't get to him in time," Kakashi said in a worried tone.

The dogs all nodded their heads and ran off to find Naruto's scent, they dogs all liked Naruto as he had always treated them well and if he was in trouble they would try to find him as quickly as he could. Kakashi watched them run off sniffing for any trace of him from around the tower and he hoped they would find something soon. He looked to the village and he had to wonder just where his son was and what was he thinking and he really hoped he wasn't doing something stupid like reading that scroll.

In the woods that surrounded the village Naruto and Hinata were at a small clearing with a small shed, Hinata was with him looking nervous as Naruto was on the grass trying to read the large scroll by moonlight, he had been curious as to what the scroll had in it and when he pulled it open he was surprised to see a list of jutsus and other techniques. Naruto thought it was some type of teaching scroll that maybe you get to learn something from it if you managed to take it or something like that.

Hinata wasn't so sure, the moves that Naruto listed off she wasn't familiar with most of them and a few she thought she noticed only high ranking ninjas did at least higher than a genin was supposed to know.

"Hey Hinata-chan check this out it's got the shadow clone jutsu in here too," Naruto pointed to the same technique his father taught him.

"Th-the what?' Hinata took a closer look, it looked like a regular clone technique but with a different hand seal at the end of it.

"Yeah my dad taught me it so I could pass, he said I can't make normal clones but shadow clones are easy. They're all solid and stuff too so they can actually hit your enemy with them, there is supposed to be more but my dad said he would tell the whole thing after I passed," Naruto explained to his friend.

Hinata took a closer look at the instructions as she read on out loud it was one of the few times she could speak without stuttering when she was reading something, "The shadow clone jutsu is a jonin level technique and should not be taught until then because the level of chakra needed to use it safely could seriously harm or kill a person with too little chakra..."

She looked at Naruto worried but he just brushed it off, "Aw what do they know I can do it just fine."

She read on, "The clones when dispelled also send the original person all of their memories and experiences, this makes them perfect for spying as any information they have will be sent back to the original."

"What!? I didn't notice that when I used it!" Naruto looked closer at the fine print and tried to remember all the training he did with the clones. He had done it so many times that he just thought that the memories he had were just from all his tries but actually looking back and thinking hard about it he realised that the scroll was right.

"Aw I can't believe I didn't notice that before, I'm such an idiot," he yelled out grabbing his head.

Hinata felt a little sorry for him but honestly never knew what to say in these moments, but then Naruto was back to reading the scroll again trying to find something he could use.

"N-Naruto-kun what are you l-looking for?"

"I'm looking for a new kickass jutsu that I can try out in this thing, hey maybe there is something for you to use as well I bet it would impress your dad if you could master something from this as well too." Naruto said brightly and Hinata thought about it, would her father be proud of something like that? She honestly thought that he might if she could learn an advance move all on her own so against her better judgement she decided to look with Naruto as well.

**Next up Chapter 21: Hard Truths**

**Next up the kids get a surprise and Naruto learns the truth. Also what new jutsu would best suit them but nothing overly powerful I want decent ideas here. And please keep in mind that I don't know Japanese so giving me just a Japanese name is useless if you have an idea be smart about it, give me the English name, the Japanese name and what it does. **


	21. Hard Truths

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 21: Hard Truths**

Naruto had been pouring over the scroll and he just couldn't decide on what to try and learn, there were so many cool things that he never even heard of. There were elemental attacks, defensive jutsus, genjutsus but since he sucked at those he just skipped them entirely. He was like a kid in a candy store and he just wanted to learn them all if he could. Hinata was looking with him but something was wrong to her, all these moves were way too advanced for them so why was the test to take this scroll if it held such dangerous looking techniques? Everyone had some type of warning to it and she was starting to worry that maybe they took the wrong one.

"Man Hinata-chan this is awesome which one should we try for?" he asked her.

"I-I don't know I mean th-these look a little too dangerous..."

He just shrugged, "Hey the shadow clone is in here and I use that so how bad could it be? Oh cool something with lightning that should be great!"

"Um w-w-wasn't your affinity wind?" Naruto looked at her a little confused as to what she meant, "You remember w-w-when Iruka-sensei tested us for affinities...the paper that changed w-when we touched it?"

Naruto thought hard but he honestly had been thinking about something else, he kind of remembered a paper being passed around but he was too busy making doodles in his notes of him beating up Sasuke to pay much attention. Hinata saw this and sweat dropped that he could forget his own elemental affinity, she herself learned that hers was water but Hyuga's didn't use much jutsus in battle and mainly used their gentle fist style a lot.

"N-Naruto-kun yours was wind remember?"

He just shrugged, "Sorry but if you say so then let me see...oh here's a cool one, vortex fist."

"No don't!" Hinata said stopping him from making the hand seals, "L-look at the warning."

Naruto looked and reading it over the jutsu was used to make a condensed wind in your fist, then with a punching motion you sent out a blast of powerful wind that would rip to shreds anything in its path the downside was that it could also rip apart the users hand and arm if they weren't careful and in bold it said that only seasoned jonin should even attempt it. Naruto looked at his hand and even though he had two he wasn't sure he wanted his arm ripped off.

"Man this sucks what can I do then?" He asked as he looked around some more and then his eye caught something, "Huh what's this? Exploding Shadow Clones..."This looked like it would work for him and he read the name and it was credited to have been made by an Itachi Uchiha. Naruto thought back and he wasn't sure if he remembered someone like that or not. It sounded very familiar to him for some reason but he just shrugged.

Sasuke was the only one left now but he wouldn't ask him if he knew the guy, most likely it was just some clan member that he wouldn't have known anyway. Naruto looked at it but it was kind of complicated so he asked Hinata for help. It would be later when Mizuki eventually showed up and put on his smile again as he came to the two children.

"Well I'm most impressed you two managed to do it, you're parents will be very proud of you two." Mizuki lied to them.

"Yeah I knew it, it wasn't hard at all they barely even tried to stop us anyway," Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head.

Hinata stepped forward looking a little worried, "Uh...M-mizuki-sensei I-I think we took the wrong scroll."

"Oh and what is that?" He asked her.

She fiddled with her fingers as Naruto rolled it up, "I-It's just that, what's in it is way too advanced for g-genins. W-why would that be the scroll for the test when a-any genin that took it could do a lot of harm with it?"

Mizuki shouldn't have been surprised that Hinata had figured out something was wrong but it didn't matter he was going to kill the kids anyway so it hardly mattered to him. He smiled at her to reassure her and knelt down to her height.

"It's okay Hinata I'm sure that everything is okay, Naruto why don't you hand me that scroll now?"

"Oh okay sure thing," Naruto picked up the large scroll.

"W-wait maybe we should be the ones to take it back after all we t-took it," Hinata said to them both. She wasn't sure but something about all of this was wrong it something inside was screaming it at her. She didn't know why but she felt that the scroll had to be taken back and they had to be sure of it, from what she read it was too dangerous to be out in the open like this. It held a lot of the villages justus and some looked as though they were ones that the village only had as well.

Mizuki smirked at her, "I should have guessed you might have been a problem, Naruto is too stupid to think things through but I figured since you're such a weak little girl you wouldn't have said anything."

Both kids looked as though they had been slapped in the face by his words as his face shifted from the kind teacher to that of a darker look. He quickly grabbed Hinata and turned her around and gripped her throat with his free hand.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto called out.

"Move and she dies brat," Mizuki told him harshly.

"What's going on Mizuki-sensei?"

"You really aren't all that bright are you?" He smirked at the boy, "That scroll is the Forbidden Scroll, I had you steal it before I left this stupid village behind so I could finally get what I deserved all these years. I hated teaching at that school while my talents were wasted but because I'm not from some elitist clan or a noble family or some other junk like that I was held back. Well no more, now I get what's coming to me and you will give me that scroll."

Naruto gritted his teeth seeing Hinata's hands going to her throat for air, he couldn't believe that Mizuki had betrayed and used them like this. He thought he had known him, he had always seemed so nice but he had used them to steal from the Old Man and because he had dragged in Hinata into this she was in trouble all because of his stupid pride. He closed his eyes and picked up the scroll wondering what to do and then he thought of something his father told him many times in their training.

'_**Naruto remember this, a ninja that breaks the rules is trash but a ninja that turns their backs on their friends is worse than trash.'**_

'_I remember dad,'_ Naruto thought to himself and looked at Hinata's pained face as she struggled for air. It was all his fault and he wouldn't let Hinata get hurt because of his stupidity, he angrily looked at Mizuki and tossed the scroll by his former teacher glaring at him as it landed a few feet from the adult.

"There now let her go," Naruto said to him.

Mizuki just smirked at the boy and with his hand tightened his hold on Hinata's neck even more, she was frantically trying to get his hand off as she couldn't breath anymore. Naruto saw her face changing colour and saw her eyes widen in fear and pleading for him to help her.

"What are you doing? Stop it you're going to kill her I gave you the stupid scroll!" Naruto shouted at him.

He just laughed in response, "Stupid brat you really think I'll let you two live? You can tell them exactly who took the scroll and by the time they find your bodies and figure out that I'm no longer in the village I'll be long gone by then. You should have known better but I guess it won't be all bad after all there are people that would celebrate your death."

Naruto had always known that some people hated him, he never knew why he just figured that maybe they just hated his family after all he had heard from his dad how his grandfather had killed himself after being a disgrace and all, but he was more worried about Hinata as she looked as though she had passed out by now.

"Do you want to know the real reason why so many hate you and why people have tried to kill you even like those two ninjas or those 'accidents' that happened to you from time to time?" Mizuki grinned seeing the boy's look made this all too sweet for him. "You remember the lessons on the demon fox that came and killed so many of our villagers? The Kyuubi the Nine Tailed Fox, well it was said that the Fourth Hokage killed it but it turns out that was all a lie. You see he couldn't kill it but instead sealed it into a boy a baby born on October 10th."

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt a sliver of fear and dread enter his heart at his words because that was the day he was born.

"You were that boy, you are the Nine Tailed Fox in a human form," Mizuki laughed seeing the boy's eyes and he had to admit it was nice to take the Demon Boy down a bit and he decided to twist the knife a bit more. "If you don't believe me how do you think you survived that kunai to the chest when you saved this girl all those years ago? How do you think you even managed to defeat a ninja at that age? You used the power of the demon inside of you that's how."

"The village just should have killed you and be done with it but no that stupid fool the Third thought otherwise and then Kakashi of all people had to take you in as his own son."

Naruto felt like he had just been kicked in the chest, he knew that he didn't look like his father but he just figured that he got his looks from his mother but every time he had asked about that his dad just changed the subject or said that it was too painful to talk about and he would tell him when he was older. But he had always thought that his father was Kakashi Hatake and now to learn that his father had been lying to him his entire life he felt his world caving in.

First he found out about a demon inside of him, that he wasn't really a Hatake and now Hinata would get killed because of him. It was that last thought that focused his mind seeing Hinata's limp form, and the all his pain he focused on the sole task of not letting her down anymore. He wouldn't let her die and he promised himself that he would protect his friends.

More determined than ever Naruto faced Mizuki, "Let her go now or I swear I'll kill you."

Mizuki just smirked as he threw Hinata's body aside and reached behind him to pull out one of the large shurikens that was attached to his back. He'd deal with the boy first then he could deal with the girl since she wouldn't be a problem. Naruto saw this and gritted his teeth as he got himself ready, he had to push everything he heard to the back of his mind and focus on beating him. Naruto formed a few hand seals and suddenly there were several dozen Narutos now in the forest.

"Ha! I like to see you beat us all!" Naruto shouted at him.

"That might have caught me off guard if I didn't already know you could do that," Mizuki said as they clones threw their weapons at him, they hit but he transformed into a log. With the substitution done he appeared again out of nowhere the threw his large shuriken weapon into the mass of clones. He took many of them down with one move and landed in the three tops pulling out the last one he had to his back.

"Pathetic you can't beat someone with the same trick brat."

"That's why I learned something new," Naruto said making more clones as they all charged Mizuki. He only threw the weapon at them cutting them all down to pieces.

He jumped down to the Naruto left and grabbed the boy by the throat and held a kunai to his neck, "You should have run boy and what did I say about the same old trick?"

Naruto only gave a small laugh, "I guess I forgot to say the new move huh? Exploding...Shadow Clone Jutsu..."

With that Naruto suddenly blew up sending the chunin back into a tree with small burns and in a lot of pain. He held a hand to his face feeling the pain of the explosive damage to it and to his body. He was trying to think what had happened when he heard a noise and saw Naruto walking out of the woods. Naruto calmly walked over to him thankful that his plan had worked. While Mizuki had been focused on the clones they covered him long enough to make a special exploding one and with a left over clone from the first wave he pulled his own substitution jutsu with that clone.

It had been something he had been working on for his dad for the next spar but it seemed that it worked. Now he just walked over to the man who was glaring angrily at him. Mizuki tried to speak but he couldn't get any words out he thought that Naruto was saying something but he couldn't hear with the ringing in his ears, that was when he passed out from the pain.

Naruto quickly ran to Hinata and checked her out, he held her in his arms and checked her breathing, she signed hearing her soft breath and he felt like crying at that moment. From nearly losing his best friend to the truth of his life he just didn't know what to think or feel at the moment. He was totally lost and he didn't even know what to do next. He just sat there holding her close to his chest.

It was a bit later when Kakashi had come to the scene one of his dogs had been taking him in the general direction and when he heard the explosion he came onto the scene with Naruto holding Hinata and Mizuki looking pretty bad on the floor. Kakashi walked over to Naruto and knelt down to him.

"Naruto what happened here?" He didn't get a response and that was worrying, "Son please talk to me."

"He told me," Naruto said and looked up at him with tears in his eyes, "Why didn't you ever tell me, why didn't you ever tell me about the fox or...or that...that I'm not your real son?"

Kakashi knew that he needed to have a talk with Naruto it was obvious that his son had taken the news pretty hard and he had been meaning to tell him but he wanted to do so when the time was right but it looked like fate and a certain chunin had ruined that.

**-Hatake home-**

Kakashi watched as Naruto walked silently to the couch, they had dropped off Hinata home on his son's insistence but he had been unusually quiet the entire time like he was now. When Hinata woke up she had told Kakashi what had really happened and he in turn had told the Hokage. Mizuki would be under guard at the hospital until he was well enough for Ibiki to get to work on him.

Kakashi was worried for Naruto as he looked so lost the entire time and now they were in his room sitting on his son's bed. The quiet was like nails on a blackboard to Kakashi but he sat down next to him and waited for Naruto to make the first move. He had to wait for a bit until Naruto seemed to come around long enough to start asking questions.

"Is it true? Was what he said about me being a demon and you're not my father true?" He asked choking back a sob.

"Well, yes and no." Kakashi said gently and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Listen to me you are not the demon, you're a hero Naruto because you keep the demon from harming anyone else. You're the jailer not the prisoner inside of you. So I don't want you to ever think of yourself as a demon, because there are those that know the truth and see you as the one that keeps us all safe."

Naruto felt a bit better hearing that, that he wasn't a demon but the fact he had something that terrible locked up inside of him wasn't something that he wanted to deal with. It was scary to think of that creature living inside of him all this time. Then he looked at Kakashi and pulled down his mask to look at the man who he had though had been his father.

"And...you're not my dad?" He asked his eyes filled with hurt at that.

Kakashi in a rare moment pulled his own mask down as it was a way for them to know when they were being totally truthful with each other, something to show that there were no secrets in that moment. He sighed and looked at the boy who looked so much like Minato it was scary. "I'm not your biological father no, I took you in and raised you as my own because I owed it to him to do it. He asked me to protect you and I will do that until the day I died."

Naruto looked down a moment hearing that.

"But, I soon saw you less as just a responsibility but more as family, Naruto you are the only family I have in this world and I wouldn't trade you away for anything. In a time in my life where I had lost everyone important to me you gave me something to help fill in that void and to keep me from a lost and lonely existence. I love you like you were my own son and I never want you to forget that."

Naruto was at a loss for words as he looked up at him, and before he knew it he lunched himself into a hug with the man. Kakashi smiled and gave him an one arm hug back rubbing his back, he knew that this all would be difficult to him. They stayed like that for a moment until Naruto pulled himself away wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

"Who, who were my parents if..." he let the end hang there he was going to say 'if you're not my dad' but after everything that seemed cruel to say.

Kakashi knew what he had meant to say but was thankful he didn't finish. He got up and Naruto watched him leave he came back later carrying a small box with him and sat back down. "Naruto I want you to know that you can't tell anyone who they are at least not yet. You're father made a lot of enemies and if they ever found out that he was your father they would come after you and you're not ready yet to face that. Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded his head.

Kakashi opened the lid and pulled out several old pictures, one was of him when he was a kid with his team and Minato. He smiled seeing Rin and Obito's faces in the picture they had been so young back then. He handed the picture to Naruto and picked up one of Minato Namikaze with a pregnant Kushina Uzumaki both of them were holding each other and smiling as he gave Naruto the photo.

Naruto looked at them and they seemed so happy and looking at the tall blonde man he couldn't help but see the resemblance, it was so weird for him to see these two as his parents. But he couldn't deny that he looked so much like the Fourth Hokage, although with his mask he guessed not many would suspect that.

He looked at the photo of Kakashi as a boy, "So he was your sensei?"

Kakashi nodded, "He was like a father figure to me after my own had died, the night he died he left several things one of them was a note to me to take care of you and I guess this is for you too when you were old enough."

Naruto was handed a small letter envelope that looked very old, he gently opened it up and took out an old piece of paper.

_Naruto, I know that this is a long time coming and you'll have grown up so much by the time you read this. But I needed to give you some last words that I wanted you to have. I'm sorry this letter isn't longer there is so much that I wanted to tell you and so much that I wish I could have done with you but the Kyuubi is too close and I have to go soon._

_By the time you read this I guess I'll have been dead for a long time, I wish I could have watched you grow up with my wife but it seems life doesn't go as you wish it to. I hope you have had a good life with lots of love my son, because we both loved you so much even before you were born. Your mother would sing to you all the time when she was pregnant with you and always talked about all the things she wanted to teach you. I wish she could have but she died fighting to give birth to you, she wanted you to live even at the cost of her life and that's why I chose you as well._

_By now I guess you know what I had to do and I'm sorry I had to place this burden on you but there wasn't another way. A newborn was needed since only that would survive and hold the demon and I couldn't ask anyone else to do this if I wasn't. I designed the seal to allow the demon's chakra to merge with yours over time it's my hope this will give you a lot of extra power. It is also my hope that you are seen as the hero of the village as was my wish._

_I asked Kakashi Hatake to look after you, I trust him more than anything to take care of our son. Naruto know this, you are a hero and your parents loved you more than life itself so please remember this my son and I know you will do us proud._

_Minato._

Naruto felt the sting of tears on his eyes again after reading it, he didn't know what to say to that. He had learned so much about his life in one night that it was just too much to take all at once. He would need time to digest this all but the thought that his birth parents had loved him so much and that he wasn't the demon but the one holding it back gave him a sense of strength. And his dream of becoming Hokage took on a new determination as well, his biological father had placed a lot of trust in him and he would do him proud. He would become Hokage as well just as he did and protect this village too.

"Can...can I keep these?" Naruto asked Kakashi.

"Only if you keep them save and out of sight for now," He told him and Naruto nodded his head. Kakashi was about to leave when Naruto spoke up again.

"You know...they may have been my birth parents and he may be my father but I don't know him." Naruto said softly and then looked up at Kakashi, "He was never there for me when I was scared or hurt or lonely. He never made me laugh or took me out for ramen or trained me. He never told me stories when I was little or took me to the park to play."

"Yeah he was my father...but you're my dad. You always have been and you'll always be my dad no matter what."

Kakashi smiled as he ruffled Naruto's hair and the young boy grinned up at him. "I'm glad because even in all the ways that matter you are my son."

"Thanks dad," Naruto said softly.

"Well it's been a long night and you got a big day coming up remember?" Kakashi said and Naruto knew what he meant in a couple of days they would put him on a team. He couldn't wait for it but he was also dead tired. He could see Hinata tomorrow and check in on her as well, he hoped that she was okay. He put the letter and photo back into the box and placed it on a shelf in his room as he got ready for bed.

Kakashi watched him by the door and gave a soft smile, he knew that Naruto was keeping things inside he always did that to prevent other from worrying. He just hoped that he would be okay this was a lot to put on his shoulders he was a strong boy but even the strongest blades can break eventually. He walked off hoping that Naruto would eventually be okay and hoping that Ibiki would have a lot of fun with Mizuki and wondering if the man would let him join in at one point after all the man had tried to kill his son and frame him for a theft as well.

**Next up Chapter 22: Choosing the Teams**


	22. Choosing the teams

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 22: Choosing the Teams**

Kakashi had just left Naruto and ran a hand through his long silver hair, it had been a long night and he hoped he would be able to get some sleep since he had a meeting tomorrow with the other Jonins about the teams. He mentally shrugged he could always sleep in at any rate there were some pluses to constantly being late and people expecting it. He was about to turn in when of course someone was at his door. He signed in irritation at who would come to their home in the dead of night and walked over and opened the door.

There stood Anko of all people which was a surprise for him.

"Hey Kakashi I-" She stopped dead in midsentence as her eyes widened a bit. She at first thought she was at the wrong house because the person that opened the door was the most handsome man she had ever seen. His face was practically perfect, a strong chin, perfect lips, flawless skin that almost made her jealous and even though one of his eyes were covered she could see someone that could make any woman's head turn.

"Anko what is it?" The man spoke.

It was then that she realised that this was Kakashi, he had his mask down and she was seeing his face for the first time in years. She had finally seen it and she was totally taken aback by it.

'Oh god he's gorgeous why the hell does he keep that hidden away!' She thought as she struggled to speak something. 'Oh god pull yourself together Anko this is Kakashi remember? You're friend and father to the brat? The guy reading those perverted books...who had the best looks in Konoha-snap out of it damn it!'

"Uh...mask," she managed to get out.

He looked at her confused and then his visible eye widened and he quickly went for his mask he had forgotten to pull it up with his little heart to heart with Naruto. He saw the slight blush on her face as she was pulling herself together and he signed. This was why he kept it covered although he never got what people saw in his face it was just a face after all.

"So any reason why you're here?"

"Huh?" Anko asked and shook her head, "Oh right I just wanted to know how Naruto was doing I heard something went down with that bastard Mizuki."

Kakashi sighed and let her walk inside they sat on the couch as he told her everything that Naruto had gone through including learning that he was adopted and of the fox. Anko by the end of it looked livid and ready to kill someone she was pacing the floor muttering all kinds of sadistic and disturbing things. Kakashi was impressed with her knowledge of the human body and wondered if some of the things she said were actually physically possible.

She was still in the middle of it when he heard more knocking on the door, he sighed and got up checking his mask just to be sure and found Gai there with Asuma and Kurenai.

"I guess you all heard as well?" Kakashi asked pretty much guessing from the serious looks on their faces including Gai and when he got serious you knew that he was taking the matter with a serious intent that was surprising. He let them in as they found Anko still muttering death threats.

"How long has she been like that?" Asuma asked him.

Kakashi shrugged, "She started on A and now it seems she's gone into the Vs...I didn't know there were that many torture methods and curses that started with that letter that's kind of impressive."

Kakashi pretty much retold them then entire story and by then Anko had calmed down enough to sit down again.

"I can't believe that he would do that to children no less," she finally finished her tirade if there was one thing she couldn't stand was children being lied to and used mainly because of her own experiences as a young genin. She didn't remember a lot but she had looked up to her sensei and then he had placed the curse mark on her and threw her away leaving her alone in the world. Naruto had become someone special to her like almost a family member and knowing how hurt he must be from everyone keeping that secret from him and not telling him had to hurt like hell.

"Naruto will pull through his fires of youth can never be undone," Gai nearly shouted standing up and pointing to the sky, everyone just sweat dropped at his antics and moved on.

"At any rate you think he'll be okay?" Asuma asked him.

Kakashi sighed and slouched forward feeling like a weight was put on his shoulders, he seriously hoped that he would be but he knew that this was something that Naruto would be dealing with for awhile now he wished he didn't have to but his son was growing up and with that he would have to deal with hardships. Hardships were part of a ninja's life and if he didn't learn to deal with this now then he wouldn't last long as a ninja.

Anko saw the look on his face (after years of knowing him she learned to read his face with the mask) and she felt sorry for him, she had seen how they were together and knew that Kakashi and Naruto were very close given they were the only family that each other had. She felt jealous at times seeing how close a bond they had and she couldn't remember having something like that in her life. But seeing him now she saw how worried he was with him.

So she got up and sat down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, he looked at her and she gave him a weak smile, "Hey you know the brat, he's a tough little kid and he'll pull through."

Kakashi smiled under his mask and nodded, although Kurenai gave Anko a slight look wondering what prompted that and would ask her later. They stayed for a bit longer and eventually they had to make their leave, they all just wanted to check to make sure that Naruto was okay, the boy had a way of making friends and they all couldn't help but like the kid for various reasons.

Kurenai was walking with Anko when she had finally had to ask a question, "Okay what was that back there?"

"Huh?" Anko asked confused.

"Don't 'huh' me, I mean what was that back there with Kakashi?"

"Oh that," Anko blushed a bit but only for a second before grinning, "I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"It."

"It,_what_?" Kurenai said getting very annoyed at the moment.

Anko rolled her eyes, "_It_, it. I saw his face."

Kurenai stopped in her tracks hearing that, she had been trying to see under that mask for years and Anko said she had seen the famous face of Kakashi. She saw that she was being left behind and quickly ran up to her friend. "You're kidding!"

"Nope." She said smugly.

"Well what was it like?"

Anko thought back and the blush came back, "Oh god he's the most handsome man ever, why the hell does he have to hide that thing I mean it's a crime against all females that he should do that."

"You're exaggerating things right?"

Anko just shook her head they had all heard the rumours about the face they all heard all the stories from people who had claimed to have seen it. It was one of the reasons that there were many females trying to see what he looked like. It didn't hurt that he was famous, very skilled, and apparently a good father as well. So of course there were some females that would love to jump at the chance with him and she had seen him on a few dates but none seem to last.

She got the story out of Naruto one day that some of the ladies didn't seem to like him much and Kakashi pretty much dumped them after that, so apparently if they couldn't accept Naruto to Kakashi that meant they weren't worth his time. That was good since it showed that even though he was a bit of a perv at least it showed that his son came first.

Kurenai noticed how quiet Anko had gotten and in all the years she had known her she knew that a quiet Anko meant something bad was going to happen or she was really deep in thought about something. She also caught the blushing she had done thinking about Kakashi's face and somewhere she wondered if Anko was attracted to him now. Of course Kakashi even with the mask had this thing about him that was strangely attractive but she could never live with someone that read those filthy books.

Besides lately someone else had been on her mind but she pushed those thoughts aside, she knew that Anko dated now and then but nothing major ever came out of it. Usually one night stands or the guy just didn't measure up. Kurenai had a small smirk as she hoped that maybe she could push things along, after all both Anko and Kakashi were single and Anko already liked Naruto as well so why not?

Kurenai might also be mistaken and she planned on watching to see how the two interacted, if there was any indication that the two might be attracted to the other she would help push them together but if not then she would just let it go. She didn't want to mess things up between two friends after all.

"So you think he's good looking huh?" Kurenai asked.

Anko felt her cheeks burn again, "Okay yeah he's a stud but not like I can do anything about it."

"Too bad then, although I wish I had seen it since I've always wondered myself what he looks like." Kurenai asked and Anko went into a very details explanation about what she had seen. Kurenai was impressed that she remembered so much in such a short time but it made her wonder two things. Could Anko have started to crush a bit on the masked man and was Kakashi's face really that handsome?

**-Hokage's Office-**

The jonin were gathered inside of the office of the Hokage as well as Iruka as he was now the only teacher for this year's graduates as he was the one responsible for telling the kids their teams and giving any helpful insight he could into the children. So far the meeting had been going well they were discussing the kids and they were trying to form them into good teams. It wasn't until an hour later that Kakashi walked in with his book in his face of course. Everyone expected this since every team he had he had failed and they were either sent back or had quit being ninja all together.

Normally he just skipped this meeting and hardly ever came so it was a bit of a surprise to some that he even bothered to show up, but a few others knew that since his son was in this year's class he would come to the meeting this year. Most of the children were already picked and now it was down to Kurenai, Asuma and Kakashi to choose their own teams as well as a couple of other jonins.

"Alright before we go on there is something that the council wanted to be done," the Hokage sighed at this.

The council never usually bothered with this but this year was a special case as the last of the Uchiha clan would be graduating and he needed to be trained when his bloodline showed itself and there was only one man left in their village who could teach Sasuke what he needed to know. A few on the council had even 'suggested' that the boy be placed as a ninja without the standard test administered by the jonin sensei. Of course the Hokage put that down as he would have to prove himself like any other ninja regardless of his clan name.

Although the fact that Kakashi had failed everyone had a few on the council on edge and worried that he would fail Sasuke too but Kakashi might be tough with his bell test but it was a good test none the less.

"Kakashi the council wants you to train the last Uchiha so you get him," Sarutobi said to him.

Kakashi thought about it, "Hmmm, no I don't think so he's not my style."

The silence in the office was deafening as the Hokage's pipe fell out of mouth, "Kakashi you can't refuse this the council wants you to train him."

"I was under the impression we get to choose who our genins will be if that's not the case well I don't really see him passing my test," He paused long enough to let the hidden threat of failing him outright hand in the air at least just long enough for it to sink in, "or he could pass if I could team him up with a couple of students that could ensure his success."

The Hokage had to smile a little at the little game that the masked man was playing, he was deliberately trying to stack the deck in his favour for some reason, he had an idea but given the council would be very unhappy if Kakashi refused to train him or failed him as well...that just brought on too many unpleasant memories as it was. He might as well give the man what he wanted, Kakashi was good and he had never taken an interests in the selection of the genin before now so he was curious as to what he had planned.

"Alright who do you want to have him paired up with?"

Kakashi looked like he was thinking hard but he had been planning this for weeks now as he grinned under his mask. He had a feeling that the council would make him train the Uchiha boy and so he started to think up a plan. It was fairly simple really but he had to come up with a few arguments and counter arguments just to get his way. He was glad to see that the Hokage was playing along and Kakashi had a feeling the old man knew a little about what he had planned but Kakashi would bet a week's pay not all of it.

"Naruto Hatake and Sakura Haruno."

"What!?" several voices rang out as well as a few other shocked expressions.

"But you can't have Naruto he's your kid isn't there something against family in the same team?" one of the ninja's asked.

"That's right," a Kunoichi said with him.

"That's my offer take it or leave it," Kakashi shrugged.

"A bit unfair ain't it Kakashi?" Asuma asked with a smirk on his face, he had already liked the trio he had gotten figuring that he could remake the solid team that their parents had been after all. But this sounded a little overkill in his books. "You get the top two boys and the top scoring girl?"

"That's hardly fair to the other teams Kakashi," Kurenai stated to him.

"Are you two willing to give me someone in return then?" Kakashi asked them and both of them shared a look with each other.

Kurenai had a solid team that was going to be great for tracking and stealth missions, with the bugs of Shino Aburame he could track as well as be very dangerous in battle the same could be said for Kiba Inuzuka and his dog. With Hinata Hyuga she got the power of her eyes and together they made a very specialized team. She could let Hinata go but in all honesty she had met the shy girl through Naruto a few times and the young girl needed a mother figure in her life as well as someone to help her out.

The two boys she might be able to offer one but it would throw things off and she got the feeling that Kakashi was only willing to trade Sakura. Although the girl from the reports might be good for genjustu a team with two girls and one boy was usually a very odd mix. She sighed knowing that any trade would weaken what she had planned for her team.

Asuma was pretty much on the same train of thought he didn't want to give up any of his three that he got either.

"Kakashi this is highly unothadox you realise this?" the Third asked of him.

Kakashi nodded, "I know but I have my reasons you see I've had numerous kids try out and all fail, some had one that had talent while the others didn't have any or something akin to that. Now here we have a team of three of the top students and I ask you if any team can past my test what better team then those three?"

He asked the room and although many weren't happy he could see that a few found some logic in that.

"Besides I want to make a special squad," Kakashi continued on, "I want to make a team that could be a front line strike force, a team that goes into the thick of things and shatters the enemy force for the rest of us. A team that can go in, get the job done and get back out alive."

The Third was interested in that those types of teams were rare in fact the last team that had been like that was the legendary trio the Sannin made up of his former students. They had been an awesome force before they had been shattered apart, one went to the side of darkness for power, the other lost her will of fire with the deaths of the two closest to her and the last seemed lost with no direction anymore. It was sad what had happened to his students but when they had been together they had been a legendary team that could not be beaten.

He looked at Kakashi wondering if he could remake such a team, they were at peace but he knew that war would one day come again although he didn't want to live long enough to see it happen again, he had lost much in that time and he didn't want to see his people suffer through that again. But if war did happen a new trio such as that would be needed. He gave it much thought before rising his eyes to Kakashi's.

"Very well you have your team Kakashi but I expect great things form them," he told the smiling jonin.

**-Naruto-**

Naruto went to see Hinata today they had the day off so he wanted to see how she was doing at least that was the plan. He just kept walking around and around the outside of the compound since every time he tried to get close to the entrance he couldn't bring himself to enter. So he just kept circling the place over and over again he just didn't know if he could face Hinata or her family. He stopped and sighed wondering what he should do, he wanted to see her but he was afraid of seeing her as well.

'_Damn it why do things have to be so hard?'_ He thought to himself. _'I mean first I find out about a stupid demon stuck in my gut, that I had another dad and mom, that it was that father that put this thing inside of me and I might have just pissed off my best friend's family by putting her in danger.'_

'_I either have the worst luck in the world or I'm cursed.' _He looked up to see the faces of the past Hokage's on the mountain and looked at the face of the Fourth. He had always been fascinated by that one for some reason and he guessed now he knew why. He had been thinking about this all the time, how many people knew who his father really was, who knew about the demon within him, all the lies and half truths that people told him his entire life it was hard to know what was real and what had just been an illusion.

"Are you going in or not Naruto?"

He jumped at the voice that sounded slightly annoyed and jumped to see Neji there on the wall sitting down looking at him.

"How long have you've been there?" Naruto demanded.

"I've been watching you with my eyes for at least four walks around the compound and so before I got dizzy I decided to see why you haven't come in to see my cousin since I know that's why you're here." Neji replied to him.

Naruto case his eyes down to the ground, "I wasn't sure I would still be welcomed I mean aren't you pissed about what happened?"

Neji of course heard the story from his father and he had talked to Hinata about events to see what had happened. He was a bit disappointed that Hinata and Naruto would do something so foolish and would have fallen for that but they were both just out to please their parents. Neji had been guilty of that himself from time to time, he supposed it was something all children tried to do at some point to please their parents.

"Naruto you made a mistake but did you learn from it?" Neji asked him from his place on the wall.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Yeah don't trust adults."

Neji's mouth actually quirked a little trying a bit of a smile at that but remained serious, "At any rate all you can do is learn and Hinata is worried about you so you better go and see her."

Naruto watched him leave and he guessed he shouldn't worry Hinata and he was about to move when he stopped himself. "Okay...Five more minutes and then I'll go."

While Naruto was gathering up his courage Hinata was in her room staring at her ceiling. She had been feeling pretty low lately and there were a few reasons for it, she placed a hand on her throat where it still hurt a bit from the bruises from Mizuki's hold on her. She felt pathetic that she hadn't even fought back but it had been the first life and death situation that she had been in, well that wasn't entirely true she still had vague memories of her kidnapping attempt but as a ninja this had been her first life and death fight and she froze.

She had panicked and lost consciousness as well, she didn't know how but Naruto had saved her life again. She wished she could have helped and not have been such a burden to him, she wanted to be stronger but she couldn't use any of the skills in that scroll they were just too powerful and she didn't have the chakra reserve to try and use it. She remembered a few of them and wrote them down when she woke up in her room, she might not be able to use them now but with training she could master them when the time was right.

Her father had been both worried for her and disappointed that she had tried something so foolish, all she wanted was to please him and she had made him both a little distraught and disappointed again. She felt like she couldn't do anything right and she was a failure as a Hyuga. She was supposed to take over the clan and here she was failing to live up to her clan's way of excellence. She was just staring up at her ceiling wishing that tomorrow would come earlier so she could get on her team and start missions to help her to make up for this.

She was lost in thought when she heard something tap against her window she looked and nearly gave a startled cry seeing Naruto there tapping on her window. She sat right up in bed quickly and looked at her door glad to see it closed the last thing she needed was her father to catch her with a boy in her room that thought alone made her blush deep crimson.

She quickly opened the window as he looked a little uncomfortable.

"Uh...Hey Hinata-chan are you doing okay?" Naruto mentally winced at how lame that sounded but he honestly couldn't think of anything else to say to her at this point.

"I-I-I'm doing fine," she said back to him, "Are you doing okay?"

Naruto put on one of his huge smiles which somehow always seemed to translate through the mask somehow, "Yeah I'm fine."

Although the truth was he was far from it but he really didn't want to worry her about things, he was still dealing with some issues anyway and he wasn't up to talking about it with someone about it at the moment. First he would deal with Hinata and then he would start to deal with that huge load that had been placed on him last night.

Both looked away for a moment in silence unsure what to say next until they both couldn't stand it anymore and at the exact same time they blurted out how sorry they were and both looked at the other in confusion because they thought that they had been the one to blame not the other.

"What do you mean sorry I'm the one that made us do that stupid thing," Naruto spoke first, "Just because I wanted to show up Sasuke and you got hurt because of it and all the trouble as well. Not to mention I bet your dad is kind of pissed at me for putting you in danger like that."

"N-no it's not like that," She quickly told him, "He's n-n-not angry he knows that it was M-M-Mizuki's fault but I'm just sorry that I couldn't help you. I-I-I just froze and I was useless, I thought I was stronger than that but I'm just weak."

"You're not weak!" He said to her making her look up at him, "You're one of the strongest people I know you have one of the most caring and understanding people I know as well. You were just surprised so was I, you did nothing wrong after all he was a chunin."

"But you were able to beat him."

"I...got lucky," he said hoping she would buy it he didn't want her to feel like telling her he used one of the moves he got from the scroll she seemed to be having enough troubles as it were. "Anyway I guess we both messed up, but that shouldn't stop us. We're ninjas now and we just have to learn from this and get better and stronger."

Hinata smiled at his words, he always had a way of inspiring her and others she wasn't sure why he had such an ability but it was one of the reasons she cared for him so much. He also made her feel stronger and more confident as well. She was about to say something where there was a knock on her door she jumped and the sudden realization that Naruto had snuck into her room. She was in enough trouble and if her father learned that she had boys sneaking into her room (even if this was totally innocent) it wouldn't look good.

"Naruto you have to h-hide," she said quickly blushing deeply as she pushed him into the closet. He didn't know what the big deal was he had been in her room before but then she explained it and his face grew a little red himself. He hadn't thought of it like that and it would be a little awkward seeing as he did come through her window avoiding everyone in the home.

"C-Come in," Hinata called out.

Hanabi walked in looking around wondering what all the noise had been about that she had heard. She had knocked several times and she had gotten curious what her big sister had been up to. She had on a small smile as she walked into the room making a point to look around making Hinata's sweat a little.

"It is going to be lunch soon as I was told to tell you that it would be in the main dinning hall today," Hanabi said.

"O-okay I'll be there," Hinata said even more nervously than usual.

Hanabi was about to exit the door when she stopped and smiled, "Oh and I hope you don't start hiding boys all the time since I doubt the father would like them much and wouldn't like the idea of one of his daughters doing something inappropriate, right Naruto-nii-san?"

There was a sudden sound of someone face falling in the closet and Hinata's mouth hung open like a fish by the time her little sister left the room trying not to giggle at the reactions.

**Next up Chapter 23: Team 7 **


	23. Team 7

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 23: Team 7 **

It was the day that everyone was waiting for, the day the teams would be made known to them and everyone was eager to get to the academy and see where they would be placed. Naruto of course was no exception as he had blown through his kitchen, past his father without eating. Kakashi was so surprised that Naruto had actually skipped breakfast but he figured he was going to stop by the ramen stand first. Normally he wouldn't let him but it was a special day after all. Turns out that was exactly where he went and after that he went over to Hinata's to walk her to school like normal.

He was still a little uneasy about walking into her place but so far no one seemed to be glaring at him, although Hanabi kept grinning at the two of them making both of them uncomfortable. So they were on their way to school with Naruto talking the entire time on what possible teams they would be put on. 

"N-Naruto-kun do you think w-we'll be put onto the same team?" She asked him. She was hoping that they would be since that meant she would get to see him all the time and go on missions together. She always had her own little dreams of the both of them working together on missions and of course most of those dreams ended with them alone together sharing a moment. One that she really remembered was one where they had been older and were in a forest, they were tracking someone and they came to this beautiful grotto and Naruto had taken her in his arms and told her how beautiful she was and then he kissed her.

She blushed a bit remembering those dreams, they were always her favourite.

Naruto thought about it, he wouldn't mind having Hinata on his team she was his first real friend he ever made and he admired her skills. She was preferable over some of the others like Sasuke he really hoped he wasn't on his team since they could only stand each other for short periods anyway.

"I think that would be great Hinata-chan, we would kick major ass I just know it," He said happily and she smiled at that.

Then Naruto's face got a bit more serious as a thought hit him, they might not be put on a team after all and if that happened he wouldn't be able to see her every day like he had been. They would only get to see each other when they didn't have missions to run and who knew how that would work out.

"Hinata-chan?"

"Y-yes?"

"What if we're not on the same team?" He asked her and he saw her face fall at that news since it was something that could happen. "Hey let's promise something together okay?"

She looked at him expectedly wondering what he had in mind.

"Let's promise that we'll always be there for the other even if we're not on the same team and that we'll get really strong and help the other achieve their dreams and become the best ninjas there is, okay?

Hinata smiled and nodded her head she liked that idea and she would help Naruto become Hokage and also she felt that he would make a great Hokage one day. They entered into the classroom and it was the usual scene with the kids all talking excitedly amongst each other about who they'll be teamed up with and they couldn't wait to go on their first missions. Naruto and Hinata made for their friends who were gathered around a few tables.

A moment later Iruka came in with the folders for the teams, he took his place at the front of the class and smiled at the students. It had been a long time but they were finally ready to step out into the world, he only hoped that he had prepared them for what was to come ahead as he knew of the real tests that awaited them. Although he knew that some would pass while others failed it happened all the time but he had a very good feeling about this year.

He had seen some very promising students this year and for some reason he felt that they would show him that they would be ninjas that the village could be proud of.

"First off I want to congratulate everyone you all passed the exam and it's been my pleasure to teach you all." Iruka said to them all smiling, "I know that you all will make me proud and that you all should be proud of what you accomplished. Now then you'll be put into your four-man cells, three genins and a jonin instructor. I'll call out the team name, the genins that will be in it, your jonin instructors will pick you up soon."

Iruka started to read off the names as everyone waited to see where they would be place, he started with the Team One and moved on up through the teams. "Team 7 will be Sakura Haruno, Naruto Hatake and Sasuke Uchiha."

Sakura brightened up at that and who was on her team.

"What!? How come Sakura gets put on Sasuke-kun team?" Ino whined out loud.

"Ino the teams were placed as they were for a reason now sit down while I finish the teams off," Iruka said to the young girl. She eventually sat down pouting that she wasn't on the same team as her crush Sasuke although Sasuke was glad on hearing that, he wasn't sure he could take having someone like Ino who was always bothering him. 

Sasuke gave a glance at his team, Sakura he wasn't sure of. To him he figured she was one of the less than annoying fan girls but still slightly annoying. Then there was Naruto the only person in school who had given him any type of challenge. It was strange since they fought a lot and yet he couldn't say that he hated the boy, sure he was loud, annoying and sometimes dense but he was also the only other student that Sasuke could measure his progress against. It was also irritating that Naruto was never too far behind him (at least in his eyes) and so Sasuke always had to push himself harder.

In a way Naruto was making him reach his goal of avenging his family faster but he wouldn't be outdone by him regardless he would surpass and leave Naruto behind since he still had to catch up to Itachi's level and then surpass him as well.

Naruto smiled at his team, sure he was on Sasuke's team but at least he was paired up with Sakura one of his friends and someone who he kind of liked as well. He was a bit sad that Hinata wasn't on his team, he would have traded Sasuke for her in a heartbeat but there was no changing it. He looked around and saw Hinata's face looking down slightly sad and he knew that she wanted to be on his team as well. He would go talk to her after everything was settled.

Iruka continued to call out names, "Team 8 will be Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame."

"Cool this should be interesting eh Hinata?" Kiba asked the girl next to him.

She snapped out of her slight depression and gave him a small smile, "O-oh of course Kiba-kun."

Kiba sighed knowing that Hinata had a crush on Naruto and yet had done nothing about it, he once said to her that if she wanted to that he would tell Naruto that Hinata liked him but she had panicked and begged him not to. He couldn't say no to her, after all she was one of the nicest people he met and it would be like kicking a puppy to betray her so he stayed silent. He just wished that either Naruto would get a clue or Hinata would grow a spine.

He looked to Shino and the no so talkative boy nodded his head as he took knew what he was thinking about. Perhaps the both of them would be able to work on Hinata's confidence and get her to admit her feelings after all sure it was funny at first but catching her when she fainted all the time was getting to be annoying.

"Team 10 will be Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara."

"Oh great not only am I not on the same team as Sasuke-kun I get paired up with the most lazy ass boy in the world and his sidekick," Ino whined resting her head on the table.

"Oh man what a drag to get her of all people," Shikamaru sighed in his seat behind the blonde, "As if I don't get enough nagging at home from my mom now I'll have to have it some more from her."

"What was that?" Ino snapped at him giving him a death glare.

"Teh, troublesome," he muttered going back into his usual resting position.

By the time the teams were finished being called Iruka gave them some time to get to know the teammates before their new teachers would show up. Naruto went over to Hinata seeing how sad she had been and sat down next to her. 

"Hey you okay Hinata-chan?" He asked her.

She blushed realising that he was sitting right next to her and started to play with her fingers, "I-I'm okay N-Naruto-kun."

"Good but sorry that we're not on the same team that would have been really cool," Naruto said to her and he saw her get a small smile at his words. "Anyways don't worry maybe our teams could get paired up one missions now and then you never know and it's not like we won't see each other. But anyway I'll miss hanging out all the time with you and the others."

Hinata's felt touched that he would miss her and she wanted to say something back but she wasn't sure what to say. "T-thank you Naruto-kun and...and promise me th-that we'll still see each other?"

He gave her one of his smiles, "You got it Hinata-chan!"

She smiled and this time she felt like smiling. Later on the jonins came up and one by one the teams left, Naruto said good bye to Hinata and all his other friends and it was only until Team 7 was the last team left in the room waiting for their jonin to pick them up.

It was over an hour later and still their instructor wasn't around and the three genins were getting very bored. Sasuke was staring out the window at nothing and Naruto looked like he was about to sleep while Sakura who was sitting between them was tapping her fingers on the desk annoyed about all of this. She sighed and looked at Sasuke and couldn't help but grin at beating Ino and every other girl to be on this team. First she had Sasuke-kun and she also had Naruto, both boys were sought after although most went after Sasuke.

He was very handsome and skilled although he was so distant she looked at Naruto who was still partially a mystery. She had known him for all this time and still she didn't know what he looked like under his mask. But he was kind and caring but he was also slightly perverted and an idiot at times, so she just sighed back to her original problem. The fact was she liked Naruto as a friend but she wasn't sure if there was more to it or should she try and get through to Sasuke? She had talked to her mother which turned out to be no help at all she couldn't talk to Ino as she would just tell her to go after Naruto so she could have Sasuke to herself and Hinata would say go after Sasuke for other reasons.

She went back to looking at Sasuke and was about to ask him what he was thinking when suddenly there was loud repeating banging sounds. Both young teens jumped and looked at Naruto who was banging his head against the desk muttering to himself.

"I can't believe it, why, why, why? Isn't it against the rules? I mean it's cool but it's also not cool, oh man why did it have to be him, we're never going to get anything done now, I can't get away with anything anymore, why, why why?" Naruto kept saying over and over banging his head on the desk.

"Naruto stop that!" Sakura yelled at him afraid that he might hurt himself and not to mention he might damage the desk.

"Naruto what the hell is your problem?" Sasuke asked him annoyed by his behaviour. In all the time he had known Naruto he just could never figure the boy out, he had so much potential but wasted it all acting like a child and goofing off. It was also one of the reasons why it irked him how Naruto kept up with his skills while like that and Sasuke trained hard most of his free time. He needed to be stronger and although he never said it Naruto had always pushed him to newer limits.

It was the only reason the blonde masked idiot was a rival for him, in their sparing matches Naruto would always use some wild and unpredictable style that seemed at times polished skill or just wild movements that had no finesse to them at all. He actually secretly enjoyed those matches because Naruto always changed things up and it never got bored, unlike the others.

Kiba was all power and kept coming at him head on with brute strength, Shikamaru had never been a challenge, Choji had strength but didn't have the speed like Kiba did so he was even less of a challenge, everyone in the class never made him work with the exception of Naruto. After all the years, all the challenges and all the insults he still didn't know what it was about Naruto that made him so strong. He just couldn't figure it out but since they were on the same team now maybe he would finally find out. 

The only thing that was a bit annoying was Sakura, she was one of the fan girls but at least she seemed a bit more milder than the others like that loud blonde friend of hers. Every time that blonde shouted out 'Sasuke-kun' he shivered inside. Why couldn't these girls take a hint and see he wasn't interested in fan girls he needed a real woman in his life someone to help him rebuild the clan back and someone he could at least respect. He had no time for timid or shy girls, or girls that didn't take life of a ninja seriously.

That was only Saskura's saving grace as she at least seemed to try and make an effort, but she seemed a little indecisive about to go after him or the masked idiot making a dent in the desk with his head. 

"Naruto stop it!" Sakura yelled at him.

"You don't understand I know who our jonin instructor is," Naruto said to her and now both genins were looking at him.

"Who?" Sasuke asked him.

"Well since all the others are taken there is only one left that would be _this _late," Naruto sighed hanging his head.

"Well then who?" Sakura asked him anxiously. 

It was at that moment that the door slid open and a masked man with long silver hair and only one eye visible pocked his head in, he gave a smile behind his mask that left his visible eye closed. "Yo. Sorry I'm late but I had to help a lost dog finds its owner. So why don't you all meet me up on the roof so we can get to know each other better."

With that Kakashi left as there was a moment of silence which was soon broken by a loud 'thunk' as Naruto's head once more hit the desk. He knew that his dad would never be on time and that was just one of those little excuses he used all the time. It wasn't that he didn't mind his dad being here, it was kind of awesome actually but that just meant that he would have to get used to his dad's more 'unique' nature full time. He hated waiting around and now he would have to do it all the time with him teaching them.

"Naruto wasn't that..." Sakura trailed off knowing full well who Naruto's father was after all she as well as the others had gone over to the Hatake home many times.

"Yeah that's my dad," Naruto sighed picking himself up and going to the door. Sakura followed as Sasuke walked with them with his hands in his pockets looking like he was bored although he was slightly interested to know just how did Naruto's father got to be their jonin. Sasuke had never met Naruto's family although he heard the stories but he was wondering if the Hatake family had some type of thing with masks and wild spiky hair.

They made it to the roof and the three sat down across from their new sensei as he was leaning up against the railing. Kakashi looked at the three students and for a moment he was taken back to his own genin days. It was kind of strong to see how history repeated itself, he could already see Sasuke as the serious one in the group like he had been, that would be something that he would have to work on with the boy. Seeing Sasuke brought back memories of his own youth and Kakashi really wished he hadn't been so serious all the time he could have had a lot more fun and a better childhood.

He mentally shrugged that off, you couldn't change the past so it was best to learn from it he figured.

Next he looked at Naruto and he already knew that his son would be the 'Obito' of this group. He was actually glad for that since it would help balance things out and keep things interesting. Although unlike Obito at least Naruto had a good work ethic and always liked to train and learn more practical ninja skills. Sometimes he was like a sponge with that especially with ninjustu.

He had met Sakura a few times but didn't really know that much of her, he had seen her fiery temper a few times and her calm manner as well. She was like Rin only she seemed a little less secure about herself so that was something he hoped to help her with not to mention from her file she had book smarts and very intelligent but her other skills were just basic.

"Now then why don't you all tell me about yourselves so I can get a good handle on you and for each other and yes Naruto you have to do this too. I know you well enough but it's for their benefit as well." Kakashi added in seeing that Naruto was about to say something.

"Uh, Kakashi-sensei why don't you start so we can get an idea?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi nodded his head, "Well lets see my name is Kakashi Hatake, I like a lot of things and don't like some things, my dreams are really none of your business and I have few hobbies."

The three genins sweat dropped at that since they didn't learn anything out of it. That is until Naruto decided to fill in some blanks.

"He loves his perverted books and reads them all the time and I think one of his dreams is to have them all done into a movie. He's one of the top jonins, has a rivalry with another named Gai and he one day wishes he can beat a twelve year old at cards." He smirked at that last bit seeing Kakashi give him a parental glare at that. Naruto knew that his dad would get even with him for that one later.

He just sighed and looked at Sakura, "Okay fine then you're up."

"Sakura Haruno, I like flowers and my friends. I want to become strong to protect them and to be the best Kunoichi that I can be. And as for dreams well...I kind of like..." she trailed off as she was sitting between Naruto and Sasuke and her eyes darted between both boys as she blushed. Kakashi had to chuckle at that.

"Alright emo boy you're up," Kakashi said to Sasuke.

His eyebrow twitched at being called that but Sasuke remained serious, "I don't like much other than training and getting stronger. I hate those stupid fan girls who instead of focusing on being a ninja act like this is a stupid game. I don't have a dream but I do have an ambition and that's to restore my clan to its former glory and to kill a certain someone."

Kakashi knew who that person was and he honestly couldn't blame the boy, his own older brother someone he had looked up to had killed his entire family leaving him alone in the world. Kakashi didn't know the details although he had seen the bodies he had been there on the clean up and it hadn't been pretty. So many dead and even the none ninjas and the children had been slaughtered. For a young child to be witness to it obviously had left deep scars on the young boy.

"Is it my turn yet dad?" Naruto yelled out.

"Yes but while we're on the clock I expect some respect Naruto," Kakashi warned him and Naruto nodded his head.

"Naruto Hatake, I like ramen, training my friends and I'd do anything to protect those close to me. I hate bullies and people who think they're better than everyone else and my dream is to be the greatest Hokage of all time!"

Kakashi eye smiled at that, he had heard it all the same but Naruto always seemed to get really excited about it just the same. After that he felt that he knew enough about them, anything more he could learn over time as he got to see underneath the underneath with them. 

"Okay then now that's out of the way it's time for me to tell you about the real genin test," Kakashi grinned.

"Oh crap I forgot about that!" Naruto yelled out clutching his head. Given that his dad had told him about how there was a real test after a genin was graduated and if they failed they were sent back. He had been so focused on passing the academy that it slipped his mind. And now he was very worried that his father was giving the test to them.

"What test?" Sasuke asked.

"Basically the test you did was just to see if you could become genin to see if you're truely ready to be genin you have to pass the test of your jonin instructor. If you fail well you get sent back here for another year, some have quit after my test and others are used as non combat ninjas like currier or working in administration or something else like that since not all ninjas are used in combat after all."

"So then I want you all to go to training area 7 be there at 5am and I don't want you three to eat since you'll most likely throw up anyway and I'll be watching you Naruto," Kakashi smirked before be disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"He's not serious is he?" Sakura asked Naruto but she saw the color drain a bit from his face at least the part of the face that she could see.

"Hn, how hard can this be?" Sasuke asked.

"Uh...I think pretty hard," Naruto said scratching the back of his head, "for years they've been trying to get him to take a genin team but my dad has failed every single group that they sent him. He has a damn score board on a tree outback and every time they fail he puts another notch to it."

"Wait a minute I think I saw that tree last time I was over at your house for you last birthday," Sakura remembered once seeing a tree with lots of marks on it but wasn't sure what it had been for. She had meant to ask but had forgotten when the party games started up and Ino had dragged her to be with Hinata with a game of the boys against the girls.

"Yeah he's never passed a team and I mean never he's got the longest record of doing that too," Naruto sighed knowing that things wouldn't get easy for them he knew the kind of training his dad could do when he was motivated to actually train. He may act lazy but his dad knew his stuff and the training he had put him through the years hadn't exactly been easy at times either.

"Well maybe he'd go easy on us since you're on our team?" Sakura asked.

Naruto just let out a small laugh, "Are you kidding he might even go harder on us since I'm on the team. He likes to push me to the limits in my own training, and I saw what he does. One time I watched as he climbed a cliff with one hand literally tied behind his back for training."

He saw the faces of both of them get surprised reactions out of that, he himself still couldn't believe some of the training his dad went through although it wasn't as bad as Uncle Gai's at least it was somewhat sane and not totally out there and he wasn't sure what Auntie Anko did for her own training.

"So what we don't have a chance?" Sakura asked him worried about this test.

Naruto was silent a moment until he stood up, "Hell yes we have a chance! I never gave up with anything that was thrown at me and everything my dad threw at me I tried twice as hard. I'm not backing down and you know what we can do this, after all three of us made it to the top places this year and if anyone can do it then we can!"

Sakura couldn't help but smile at his confidence and his words, they had an impact on her making her think that maybe they could pull this off. Sasuke looked at the masked blonde and as he thought about it, it was true they were the top students of this year. So to him any stupid test wouldn't be too hard besides at least it might mean that the others wouldn't slow him down either.

Naruto smiled as he looked over the village, he had come so very far but he still had a long way to go and he would let nothing stand in the way of his dream. He had passed the exam and he would pass this test that his father would throw at them. 

'Bring it on dad we'll take whatever you throw at us and give it right back at you and you better believe it!' He thought to himself.

**Next up Chapter 24: Pass or Fail**


	24. Pass or Fail

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 24: Pass or Fail**

The alarm woke Naruto up with its loud beeping noise as he groggily slammed his palm onto it silencing the evil device. He had been having a nice dream involving him being Hokage and demanding that all ramen was now free. He got up and yawned as he stretched himself out it was still dark out and even though he went to bed early he was still tired. He got a shower, dressed and was about to eat when he remembered his dad's rules. That thought made him stop for a second and realized that his dad wasn't even up yet. He snuck to his room and opened the door and looked inside and frowned as his dad was still asleep.

'That bastard he's playing with us isn't he?' Naruto thought to himself knowing now his dad was going to make them wait forever before showing up so they would be tired. 'Well two can play it that way dad.'

He grinned as he got a few supplies ready and laughed as he made his way to the training grounds. It looked pretty ordinary to him, lots of trees, a wide open space, three logs were in the ground for what he wasn't sure and he knew that he was close to the memorial stone as well as his father took him to see it with him now and again. He smiled seeing that his teammates were there looking just as tired and most likely as hungry as he was.

"Hey guys!" He called out to them.

Sasuke saw him and wondered why he had a backpack with him, "What's with the luggage?"

"My dad is still asleep and I know he'll keep us waiting for hours so I decided to pay him back for not being on time like I know he's not." He smiled as he took out sealing scroll that he got for one of his birthdays, he smiled at the memory that was when his father took him camping for the weekend after his party, he had just been alone in the woods with his dad for two days as his dad taught him all about the forest and how to live off it. It was one of his favourite memories.

He pulled it open and three sleeping bedrolls came out he placed them aside and then pulled out a box and opened it to reveal some food and juice boxes.

"Naruto you can't do that it's cheating!" Sakura shouted at him.

'**Yeah...but that looks good and we're so hungry and tired, maybe just a little snack and a rest?'** Inner Sakura asked her counterpart. Sakura was about to protest but then her stomach chose that moment to growl and she blushed embarrassed. Sasuke's stomach soon echoed hers but he just turned his head and grunted trying to play it off.

"Come one guys I bet my dad did this so that we'll just be tired and hungry, and he said it only as a warning didn't he? I mean if we chose to eat and not throw up then so what he never did say you be here on time and don't sleep and don't eat or you'll fail." Naruto grinned under his mask, if there was one thing he learned from his father it was how to look underneath the underneath and also how to work your way around things. It was hell with Iruka back in school because he had to make sure that there was no leeway in class assignments, although Naruto usually found a loophole or something which of course Kiba and Shikamaru joined in because Kiba wanted less work and Shikamaru was naturally just lazy.

Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other for a moment before the Uchiha prodigy just shrugged and took a snack and juice box and sat on one of the bedrolls. He didn't care if it was against the 'rules' or not but he was hungry and tired and he would take advantage of that if he could. Sakura looked a little unsure what to do and saw Naruto take some and do the same as Sasuke. She just sighed and hung her head in defeat and joined them.

"So how long until your father shows up?" Sasuke asked him.

"On average he's two hours late for everything so I'd say two hours after our timing so I'm going to get some sleep." Naruto yawned but then they watched as he put an apple to his mask and both teens looked in the hopes of seeing him pull down his mask. But to their amazement the apple just went through it and there was a bite out of the apple.

"The hell was that!?" Sasuke shouted at him.

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"Don't 'huh' us Naruto," Sakura said a little angry that she had once again failed to see what was behind his mask. For years everyone tried but only Hinata knew and she wasn't telling. She was wondering how he did it when she realized what he had done, "You got a genjutsu on your mask!"

"I thought that was your worst subject dobe." Sasuke said to him knowing full well that in genjustu he had beaten Naruto every time while he had barely passed the subject.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Heh, yeah it is but I can do a few things I just can't really detect them all that great and do them. It's just so complex and all that stuff but the very simple ones I can do and besides this is a Hatake family jutsu."

"Hatake jutsu?" Sakura asked him eager to know it.

"Yep," Naruto smiled proudly, "Hatake Mask Illusion Jutsu. We use it all the time to cover our faces and so we can eat with our masks down so people will see us with a mask."

"That...is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of," Sasuke sweat dropped at that. To think a family would go to all that trouble just to keep their faces hidden was a bit eccentric to him. Sakura did the same but was wondering if she could cancel out the jutsu but knowing Naruto he would have placed a lot of chakra into it like he usually did. She was about to try when she noticed that he had finished the apple and it looked like he mimed pulling on a mask and there was a slight ripple over the mask.

'Damn it I was so close!' Sakura screamed in her head knowing that he was wearing the real one this time.

'**We'll see what's behind that mask one day and see what's he hiding SHANNARO!'** Inner Sakura yelled out making punching movements.

**-Team 8 training grounds-**

It was early in the morning and Hinata had arrived at the training grounds for her team. It was a forested area but there was a lake that was fed by a waterfall that went into a river, a few large open spaces and there was an area of tall grass as well as large rocks and boulders all over the place. It had a lot of places to hide it seem and she wondered what their test would be. She had met up with her team yesterday as they met and got introduced to their jonin sensei Kurenai Yuhi, she was one of the most beautiful women that she had seen and she was so strong and confident everything that she wanted to be.

'Maybe if I become like her Naruto-kun would notice me more?' she thought to herself although she didn't think she could become as beautiful as her sensei. She felt very plain and didn't really stand out, she looked just like most other Hyuga only she had short hair. She saw Kiba and Shino were there waiting for their sensei to show up.

"Shino-kun, K-Kiba-kun is Kurenai-sensei here yet?" She asked them.

"No so far it's just us," Shino said behind his high collar.

"Yeah I wonder what this test is anyway?" Kiba asked everyone there with Akamaru sitting on his head as usual giving a questioning bark as well.

"Well you don't have to wonder any longer," came a females voice from out of nowhere and they looked around to see nothing but suddenly Kurenai seemed to melt into existence. The genjustu mistress of Konoha appeared before them with a small smile on her face seeing their reactions. They have been trained in only basic genjustu so something a bit more advanced would be a surprise to them all.

"Now then here's your test, you have to find me and all of you better do it soon because you have until noon to finish it. If you don't find me you all fail and you'll spend one more year at the academy." She told them seriously. Since her team was a tracking team this would be the perfect way to test them to see where they're skills were at.

"Our test is a game of hide and seek?" Kiba frowned.

"If you want to put it that way then yes but just remember this is no ordinary game and you're futures ride on it," Kurenai smirked as she made a few hand seals and suddenly started to vanish.

"No problem. Akamaru go get her scent!" He commanded his puppy he yelped as he jumped off his head and started to sniff the area she was in but something was wrong as he barked back at him. "What do you mean there's no scent? She was standing right there how can you not smell where she was standing?"

"She wasn't there to begin with," Shino said calmly looking around, "I tried to placed one of my bugs on her but it didn't see anyone there we were under a genjutsu."

Kiba hadn't even noticed that they had been under one, he suddenly felt that this was going to be a lot harder than he originally thought. Shino looked around the place there were many places for her to hide and that was just for a regular ninja with someone who was an expert with genjustu it was even more difficult. But there was a way to get around this although it would take planning but they're skills were very well suited for the task.

"I think we should use our strengths to try and find her, I can use my insects to search for chakra that way if there is an illusion they'll tell me not to fall for it. Kiba you have your nose as well as Akamaru's so that will also help track her down. Hinata with your eyes you should be able to find her very quickly and help guide us. With the three of us working together we should be able to find her." Shino said to them and saw that they were all speechless.

"Dude...that's the most I ever heard you speak in all the years I've known you," Kiba said to the other boy who just shrugged his shoulders.

**-Team 7-**

Kakashi was humming to himself as he made his way to his new victims-er team he corrected himself. Although he hoped that they would pass he would fail them if they failed his test. He was in a good mood wondering how cold, hungry and tired they would be when he got there. He made a few hand seals and he disappeared. He appeared in a poof of smoke in front of his team, "Yo sorry I'm late but..."

He trailed off seeing that they were all asleep, he sweat dropped at this since he never had this happen to him before. He saw Naruto's backpack and a sealing scroll and a box with garbage in it of leftover food.

"That little...son you're going to get it now," Kakashi said in a sour mood that his fun was ruined thanks to Naruto.

He looked around and managed to find cups in Naruto's bag, he walked back to the bridge by the river that was near their training grounds and came back with three cups of water one in his left and two very carefully balanced in his right. He lined them up and dropped the water onto the face of his genins.

"Ah what the hell!?" Naruto sputtered feeling the cold water hit his face as his teammates also shot up. He looked up to see the glare his father was giving him and he chuckled a bit nervously, "Uh hey dad."

"First I thought I told you to call me Kakashi-sensei and first what is going on here I thought I told you not to eat and sleep?" He demanded.

"First _you_ said to get here on time nothing about sleeping while we waited for you and second the eating was more advice that to take besides you said not to eat anything in the morning so we ate later." Naruto smirked under his mask knowing that he got one over his father.

Kakashi sighed as he figured something like this would have happened as his son was a genius at abstract thoughts for some reason. Well it was no use crying over spilt milk so he might as well go on to things. He pulled out his two bells and told them how the test was to get the bells from him of course when he told them about how only two would pass that got several reactions. Sasuke looked more determined than ever, Sakura looked unsure but Naruto glared at him.

"That's a mean thing to do _dad_, I mean we all worked hard to get this far and only two of us will pass that's a crappy thing to do to someone." He said to him.

"Tough that's the way things go sometimes Naruto," Kakashi walked over and put an alarm clock down and set it. "Now you'll have to come at me with the intent to kill but don't worry I can handle it I need to properly see where all your skills are at. Also there is a real test to this as well but I'll leave that up to you, just remember that a ninja must learn to look underneath the underneath. Not everything is crystal clear and as ninjas we work with deception and illusion all the time. You'll have to learn to see past the surface in order to survive in this life."

"You all now have until noon to get the bells so the test starts...NOW!" He grinned as the three genins jumped away and he waited to see who would go after him first. He wasn't surprised when he felt Naruto's chakra signature not too far away knowing that he was trying to get behind him and attack from his blind side which was the side where he couldn't see with this eye covered.

But he didn't need the eye uncovered to know that an attack was coming, he ducked the kick and jumped the sweep kick that followed. "You know you should have known that this wouldn't work Naruto."

He smirked at his father, "True but I got a few surprises for you dad." Just then the ground exploded as several clones came out of the ground and attacked at once. Kakashi had to admit that was a neat little opening with a distraction followed with a full on assault but he was handling the clones easily enough even when Naruto started to make more clones.

In the forest both Sasuke and Sakura from their places watched as the Hatakes were battling it out, Sakura watched in awe as Naruto used solid clones, she didn't know you could even make solid clones like that and was amazed at how well Naruto was using them. Sasuke admitted to himself that it was a good opening but Naruto was doing poorly. Kakashi had even taken out a book to read while Naruto fought, this only served to anger Naruto more as it was something that really pissed him off that his dad did. Kakashi knew all of Naruto's moves since he either taught him all his moves of spared with him enough times to know what to look out for.

Although someone was wrong when all the clones held him down instead of trying to fight as one of the clones ran at him. "Alright you said come at you with the intent to kill so you better be ready for this one!"

Kakashi felt someone was really wrong when he felt the chakra build up in the clone suddenly and there was no way sign of it ending he wasn't sure what it meant at first but he suddenly remembered something from a few years ago when he was still in ABNU about a certain Uchiha. His eye widened at what he thought Naruto couldn't possibly know. The others in the woods watched as the one Naruto clone as soon as it touched Kakashi exploded. There was a large poof of smoke from the other clones but as it cleared there was nothing but scorched earth and pieces and pieces of a log that he had been used as a replacement.

"Damn maybe that was a bit overkill?" Naruto wondered to himself out loud.

"Son we are going to have some strong words when we get home tonight," Kakashi's voice said behind him and Naruto was looking up into the glare of his father. The next thing he knew he was tied up and on the ground, this was another thing he hated happen to him because of his dad. He wasn't sure if his dad got the idea from Anko or not but it would take him at least eight minutes to get free. While he was struggling to get out that was when Sasuke tried his luck as he figured that Kakashi was finally too distracted to notice him.

He tried for a flying kick but Kakashi was too fast and quickly blocked it so Sasuke twisted in mid air and tried with a punch but yet again Kakashi's other hand went out and grabbed it but with both hands filled Sasuke smirked making a grab for a bell, Kakashi was surprised by the young Uchiha's advanced skills. That was the closest anyone had gotten to the bells in years. He threw the boy away and jumped back but Sasuke was already making hand seals while in mid air.

"Grand fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled out as a giant flame went after Kakashi. For a moment Sasuke thought he had actually nailed him but he heard a sound beneath him and jumped away as Kakashi came out of the ground. He landed a few feet away from Kakashi as he glared at him, that was the same move that Naruto had used on him a year ago and he wasn't going to fall for the same move twice. What he didn't know was that Kakashi remembered how Naruto had bragged about that and just as Sasuke landed a shadow clone that he had made under the ground pulled Sasuke under the ground.

Sasuke was livid not only had been so close but he had fallen for this same damn thing twice! Kakashi want off in search of Sakura and soon the forest was filled with the scream of a young girl, Kakashi came from the forest feeling like he had been a bit overboard, he had given the girl an image of both Naruto and Sasuke dying and the girl had taken it pretty hard. Maybe that was a bit much for her but she needed to see what type of thing that could happen this wasn't an easy life after all.

**-Team 8 training grounds-**

Kurenai had to admit this team had very good skills, for the past few hours she had been keeping ahead of the kids but it wasn't easy. Shino's bugs couldn't be fooled by a genjustu so she had to keep them away from her, Kiba and Akamaru had powerful ability to smell but she had put on something earlier before the test that masked her scent just in case. Hinata was a lot harder to trick with those eyes of hers, she had to put the girl into several genjustus just to make her think she was seeing chakra in another directions. Shino was proving to be a good tactician of the ground he was totally logical and methodical. When it was obvious that searching differently wasn't working he had them all change things around. Now they were searching each area in a grid pattern, Shino was leaving his bugs behind to mark the areas so she couldn't return.

They were slowly boxing her in and she couldn't be prouder, at the moment she was standing on the water of the small lake looking for a place to go, she knew the training area well but there were only limited places to go.

Hinata was looking all over the place as best she could but it wasn't easy to punch through a genjustu that Kurenai was able to put up these were more powerful than anything she had ever came in contact with and she hadn't been trained that much in using her eyes to see through them. She thought about Naruto and hoped that his team was doing well when something seemed odd. She noticed something was wrong with the lake, there were ripples on the water but nothing was on the surface. She concentrated on the area and she could see a slight ripple in the space above the water.

"Shino-kun, Kiba-Kun she's on the water!" Hinata said quickly.

Shino was quick to act as he raised his sleeves and a swarm of his chakra eating bugs flew out and made a circle over the lake he slowly commanded them to close in and soon Kuerenai's image slowly came visible. She smiled at the three students at them as she raised her hands in mock surrender, "Alright you found me, I'm glad that you did. You all showed true team work and managed to get through my test you all should feel proud."

Kiba yelled out that they had finally done it, Shino was passive as ever but Hinata was beaming. She felt like she had finally accomplished something very big in her life. She couldn't wait to see Naruto and her other friends and tell them that she had passed.

**-Team 7 grounds-**

Naruto saw the bell on the ground near the tree and couldn't believe his luck he gleefully ran over to it but suddenly stopped. He looked at the bell that was next to the tree and gave a small laugh as he pulled out a kunai and threw it near the bell. The rope trap was triggered and Naruto felt proud of himself for seeing the trap.

"Come on dad you got to do better than that to beat-AHHHH!" Naruto had taken a few steps when the ground gave way and he fell into a pit. "Ow! Damn it!"

Kakashi appeared and looked down the hole dangling the bell, "Naruto I keep telling you to look underneath the underneath maybe now you'll remember that lesson."

"I'll get you for this when I get out of here!"

Kakashi chuckled as he put the bell back and went off in search of the other two so far it was turning out to be pretty fun.

After Naruto got himself out of the pit he was dirty and very pissed off. He was going to go after his dad when he came across Sasuke, he couldn't help but laugh and point. Of course that only led to Sasuke yelling at him which of course led to Naruto yelling back at him for five minutes straight and they would both would have been at it until Sakura who had wakened up lost and confused as to why Naruto and Sasuke weren't dead and heard the yelling. She couldn't believe that she was seeing them and ran over to make a flying glomp at Naruto (since he was the only one she could as Sasuke only had his head out of the ground). Naruto blushed at the close contact with Sakura nearly in tears seeing them, and Naruto had a happy grin on his face that is until Sasuke interrupted and broke the mood.

And thanks to Sakura telling him to dig him out, he was now forced to dig the emo bastard (in Naruto's words) out of the ground again. After that the three of them made for the woods to regroup. The three genins were together when Naruto looked at them both, "Okay we're running out of time so I have a plan but it might not work."

"What sort of plan?" Sakura asked him.

"Well I know how we can get the bells from him but it will take time," He formed the seal and made a shadow clone, "Okay you know what to do right?" The clone saluted and ran off and Naruto hoped that nothing happened to it.

"Where did you send the clone?" Sasuke asked him.

"Well it's a backup in case the plan doesn't work I just hope he can get it in time," Naruto simply said vaguely. "Anyways something seems off to me about this test I mean aren't we supposed to be a four man cell like Iruka-sensei said? So why is my dad trying to take one of us out? It makes no sense especially given that one of the things he's pounded into my head from day one was teamwork."

Sakura thought about it she had never heard of a ninja team that didn't have three genin in them, in fact it was unheard of. She suddenly thought of something at that moment, "The test isn't the bells is it? It's to get them together that's what he meant earlier about the real test wasn't it?"

Naruto brightened up at that, "Ha I knew you would get it you really are the smartest in the class."

Sakura blushed at the compliment but then frowned at how they would be able to beat him since so far even if they did team up it wouldn't be easy but she had a thought as she looked at Naruto. "Hey Naruto he's your father don't you know how he fights and what weaknesses he's got at least?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously, "Well the only weakness that I know of is what the shadow clone is going for. I mean other than that if I knew of any weakness that my dad had I would have used that years ago anyway."

"He can't be that good," Sasuke commented.

"Hey my dad knows over a thousand jutsus! There is a reason why he's called the Copy Ninja of Konoha you know and Kakashi of the Sharingan."

"What did you just say!?" Sasuke asked him surprised. Naruto blinked a few times as Sasuke got in his face, "What do you mean by sharingan?"

"Uh...you know that weird eye thing that your clan has, my dad has one what do you think he's covering?"

"Where did he get that?" Sasuke demanded wanting to know how his family's most sacred treasure was in the hands of someone else and why did Kakashi only had one? There were a lot of questions he had and that Naruto should answer to him like why Naruto had not only shadow clones but also a move that he remembered that his older brother invented. When he saw Naruto use that move he couldn't have believed it at first where he had gotten that move from he didn't know but Sasuke didn't like the fact that Naruto knew a move of his brother's.

"We don't have time for this," Naruto told him and Sasuke let it go but he would save this for later one way or another Naruto would answer all his questions. Soon the three kids started to shoot around ideas on what to do.

Kakashi sighed reading his book wondering what was going on and why the kids were taking so long. It was a bit odd and he knew the boys at least wouldn't give up. He looked up and moved aside as a kunai impacted into the tree next to his head. He heard the snap hiss sound and jumped at the explosive note detonated. The three genins came at him and he had to put his book away for them, he fought them but something was off they weren't fighting the same way in fact they were fighting like...Naruto.

He jumped up and fired off several kunai hitting the shadow clones that had been transformed into the team. He landed and wondered what was next, he soon found himself surrounded by an army of his genins and he had to admit it was a good tactic. He wouldn't be able to know which one was which but he fought on displacing clones. What he didn't know was that his team was already moving him towards their trap. Just then the real Sakura from her position in the bushes threw several of her kunai that had explosive tags on them.

Kakashi was forced back into an area where Sasuke from his place in a tree fried off several shuriken with ninja wires on them. He enveloped Kakashi tying him up as the clones came at him with a vengeance. The clones soon attacked and they lost sight of Kakashi as the clones covered him. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura jumped out from their place.

"Alright that had to have gotten him!" Naruto shouted with a fist in the air he dispelled the clones and he was expecting his beat up father in the wires, what he got was an empty area. "What the...what happened?"

"Easy enough to answer," Kakashi's voice called out from behind them as they saw him on a branch reading his book. "That was never the real me."

The kids couldn't help but feel down, that was their best plan and Kakashi had used his own shadow clone the entire time. Although what they didn't know was that Kakashi had kept a shadow clone in reserve after the last break and just switched places with it. He had a feeling they had been up to something so he wanted an ace up his sleeve. Besides it was always a good thing to make others think you were smarter and more skilled than they thought, since that placed doubt in their minds and doubt could kill you just like any other weapon.

That was until a voice called out that sounded just like Naruto's only far off and getting closer, "I got it!"

Everyone looked to see another Naruto running over, he handed the real one something and the clone disappeared. Now the real Naruto looked at Kakashi and he had seen that look in his eyes before and now he knew that Naruto had something very unpleasant in mind and he was already trying to think what he was up to.

"Alright dad here's the thing you give us those bells or else," Naruto told him.

"Or else what, there isn't anything you three could do to me I would have thought by now you would have gotten that son," Kakashi said from his place in the tree trying to see what Naruto was hiding behind his back.

"Oh really? Sasuke you think you can burn this with some fire?" Naruto pulled out a green book and Kakashi's eye went wide in surprise and fright. It was his first edition Icha Icha novels the one he got signed by Jiraiya himself.

"Where did you get that?! I locked up all those books-"

"In the box that wood trunk in your room," Naruto finished Kakashi's statement.

Kakashi glared at the boy he knew that teaching him lock picking skills had been a mistake now he had to get new locks for that box or just a new one in general. He glared at him as he held the book up and Sasuke was starting up his hand seals. Kakashi knew he was running out of time and out of all his books Naruto just had to get his most prized one. Sasuke had just finished with the last hand seal before he spoke up.

"You wouldn't dare!" Kakashi said horrified at the thought of losing that book forever. It was irreplaceable since the first prints were limited and he had stood in line for hours to get that book sighed. Plus it was only because that he knew him personally that he managed to get that signature as well as a peek at the new novel at the time as well that day.

"Try us," Naruto smirked at him holding up the book.

"Fine here," Kakashi sighed and tossed him the bells, when he had them he tossed the book back at him which Kakashi held on tightly. He looked at the three of them as it was time for the final challenge, "Alright you got the bells so which one gets to stay and who goes back Naruto?"

"We figured that part out dad," Naruto smirked as he handed Sakura and Sasuke a bell each, "This was team exercise wasn't it?"

Kakashi smiled and nodded, "Well I'm glad all those lessons seemed to sink in, you all came together there at the end and worked as a real team and that's important your teammates are what will ensure success on a mission. You are a team for a reason, you all have your strengths and weaknesses and because of that together you are all stronger together than ever as a single person."

"So congratualions you three are the first to pass the test although somewhat unorthodox," he glared at Naruto, "And you son are in a lot of trouble no ramen for a week for stealing my book."

"What!? Come on that's totally unfair!" Naruto yelled out at going a full week without his beloved ramen.

Kakashi crossed his arms, "tough you know you have to ask me to read the books."

"You let Naruto read those filthy things!" Sakura screamed at her sensei wondering how a parent could do that.

Kakashi shrugged, "Well even though he's too young for adult acts and you better not I'm still too young for grandkids Naruto," shooting his son a death glare that if he even tried to go that far with a girl it would be the last time in his life. "Every boy should know how to kiss a girl and how to be romantic. You'd be surprised what kind of things the books have."

That was true, the books held a lot of things including certain romance parts and at least when Naruto came of age he would know what to do with a girl at least in theory. Sakura was already blushing at remembering some of the parts of that day when Naruto was reading the book outloud to Sasuke, the boy himself was also trying to hid a bit of a blush.

Kakashi gave a small perverted giggle at this it would be so fun to mess with them like this. "Anyways let's eat I bet we're all hungry by now." Three sets of growling stomachs agreed with him it had been one long morning for them all.

**Next up Chapter 25: Honorable Grandson**


	25. Honorable Grandson

**AN: Sorry for this being so late, I got this major move going on and a new job soon so things are going to be a little hectic for me until I get into a routine but I'll do my best to keep the updates coming.**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 25: Honorable Grandson**

It had been a day since he was made a ninja (officially after passing his dad's test) and Naruto was still excited. He had met up with the others and he was glad to see all his friends had passed the tests too. He was currently at the Hokage tower getting his ninja picture done for the records. Well actually it was on his third photo, first he showed up with a kabuki mask, then in face paint including over his mask, and both times he was asked to retake it. He swore some people just didn't have a sense of humor, so after cleaning up he took another picture. Although the photographer thought he was pulling another one with keeping his usual mask with the orange whisker marks on it on.

Thankfully after a lot of yelling and some threatening Naruto managed to get his picture done and was now in the Hokage's office giving him the photo. "Well I hope this works Old Man because there is no way I'm doing another."

"Naruto show some respect will you?" Iruka yelled at him, since school was out he was reassigned to the Hokage's office until the new semester started up and he just wished that for once Naruto would learn some respect. He wasn't sure if he got that from his father or he was like that naturally.

"Oh come on you know how we are Iruka-sensei, hell I don't even call my dad Kakashi-sensei," Naruto told him making the older man sigh. "Besides it's hard to respect someone who falls after one move."

Naruto grinned at the Hokage's blush forming on his face as they both knew what he was talking about. The Third gave a small cough to cover it up as he regained his composure. It hadn't been his proudest moment in his life and he was glad no one else had seen it happen. Although he really wished Naruto would stop using that jutsu of his he knew that many of the female population didn't enjoy that although he knew some of the males didn't mind. He was just glad that his student Jiraiya wasn't here to see that since he would most likely use Naruto's female image in one of his books.

What they didn't know was that there was another person just outside of the door, he had been listening to someone who had said they had defeated the Hokage, but he put that aside it just meant that the Hokage could be defeated. He readied his weapon and ran out yelling, everyone in the room turned to see a small boy in a skull cap, with a large scarf running at them.

"Now I got you!" He yelled out only to trip and face plant on the floor as his foot caught his scarf. He whined a bit in pain as he rubbed his face. He blinked back a few tears and saw everyone was looking at him; there was the Hokage, some guy with a scar on his face and a boy that was older than him with a black mask and in some dark and orange clothing.

The Third sighed, "Konohamaru I wish you would stop these little 'surprise attacks' of yours."

"Shut up I will beat you!" he said and looked at Naruto and pointed his finger, "You're the one that tripped me wasn't it!"

Naruto's eye twitched if there was one thing he hated it was being blamed for something that wasn't his fault. "Hey it's your own stupid fault for tripping on your own damn scarf!"

He gripped the kid by the large scarf trying not to smack him, but his dad always tried to teach him patience although it was never easy for him. Just then someone else came in a special jonin that he met a few times from his dad's poker nights. Ebisu had been looking for Konohamaru for the past fifteen minutes and had guessed he was trying another attack on his grandfather.

"Hey I know you," Naruto pointed at the man, "don't you still owe me fifty from the last poker game my dad had?"

Ebisu looked at Naruto and he knew Naruto Hatake, every jonin knew of the 'lucky card devil'. He pushed up his small black shades with a finger. He cursed his luck at running into the little ninja, he had heard the rumours of course about how no one won a game at the Hatake home but he didn't believe it, he still couldn't believe that the boy had beaten him and the others at nearly every hand.

"Oh Naruto I meant to pay that," he said nervously trying to save face as the Hokage and the grandson were looking at him now. "I'll give your father the money the next time I see him, and as for you honourable grandson I wish you wouldn't run off like that. How do you expect me to train you to be a great ninja if you keep running off like that?"

"Wait you're training the brat?" Naruto asked him not sure if the kid was in good hands or not. He knew that his dad didn't think much of this special jonin personally but did respect his training ability.

"Naruto watch your mouth this is the grandson of our Hokage and should be treated as such, do you treat your father with the same disrespect?" Ebisu asked him crossing his arms.

"Only to annoy him or to motivate him," Naruto shrugged and the adult nearly face faulted.

Meanwhile Konohamaru was listening in on the whole thing, so far the only thing he learned about this strange blonde was that he beat his grandfather somehow and beat Ebisu out of money, he wondered how the older boy could do something like that, "Hey you! If you can beat them then I want to prove I'm better than you, if I beat you then that means I can beat them!"

Naruto sighed, "I don't got the time to play kid I'm hungry and there's a bowl of ramen calling my name," he shrugged it off in a Kakashi like manner. Sure getting angry and yelling came naturally to him but over the years he learned that you could get under someone's skin just as much acting as Gai called it 'too cool and hip attitude'. He left Konohamaru there staring at the boy as he just walked by ignoring him, that was something that no one had done to him before he was the 'honourable grandson' and even though he hated the title no one had blown him off like that before.

So he made a plan to follow this genin and see what kind of skills he had and what kind of weaknesses too.

And so Naruto was soon bombarded by a certain boy's attempts at stalking him/fighting him, at first it was kind of funny for Naruto. The boy was pretty bad at hiding, and his surprise attacks were pretty pathetic usually he messed up and it backfired on him. After a few hours of this Naruto was finally at his breaking point, when he saw a square rock with eye holes following him he snapped.

"That's it! Look kid I don't know what the hell your problem is but stop stalking me, and rocks aren't square and have big freaking eye holes!" Naruto yelled at the 'rock' that had been following him.

That was when Konohamaru in a puff of smoke jumped out at him, "Never, I'll beat you and then I can finally beat my grandfather!" He came at Naruto with a practice kunai, those were blunted so they didn't cut a person but still stung when you hit them. Naruto just sighed and grabbed the boy's wrist and effortlessly threw him into the ground.

Naruto stood over the boy who groaned and looked up at the masked boy, "Look kid why do you want to beat the Old Man anyway?"

Konohamaru got into a kneeling position feeling a few aches from his back hitting the ground, he didn't look up at the boy feeling like a failure at not being able to once land any kind of blow. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

The boy paused for a moment and decided he had nothing to lose to he might as well get this off his chest, "Everyone calls me 'Honorable grandson' and never by my own name. No one sees me as me but just as the grandson of the Hokage. I want people to see me for me, I want to be more than just the stupid grandson."

Naruto stared at the boy for a moment before he softened his deposition, "Believe it or not I know what that's like."

"How could you?" Konohamaru asked him looking up wondering if the boy was just making fun of him.

"My father is Kakashi Hatake one of the most famous jonins we have so how do you think I can compete with that so I'm not called Kakashi's kid?" What Naruto didn't mention was his biological father was a Hokage too the greatest of them all. So he had not one but two men he was in the shadow of but that didn't disheartened his resolve to surpass them both.

"And I also know what it's like to be ignored and not to be seen as the person you are," He said a bit more quietly knowing full well how some people saw him only as the Fox and not as its jailor. He looked down at the young boy and he couldn't help that this kid knew some of what he had felt in his life. He was just a boy that was trying to establish his existence was more than just a name someone gave him.

Konohamaru didn't see anything that said that the older boy was joking around with him, in fact he seemed really serious about this. He slowly got up and for the first time he wondered if he had found someone that could understand what it was like to live in the Sarutobi family, having a grandfather that was Hokage was tough plus he rarely got to see his uncle Asuma too. He knew that his uncle and his father didn't get along that well for some reason which sucked because Asuma was one of the few people that treated him other than the 'honorable grandson' which he hated.

But now he might have just found someone else and he looked at Naruto, "Can you help me then? Can you help me get stronger so that people will see me for me?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head not sure what to say he could just blow the kid off but he reminded him too much of well himself to be honest.

"Well...I do have some free time but what do you want me to teach you?"

"Teach me that move you used to beat up Grandpa!" He shouted out.

Naruto thought about that it wasn't something he knew you should teach a kid but on the other hand it would be hilarious to see the Old Man downed again by that move and it would help the kid stand out from his family more too. Naruto smirked under his mask at that and then nodded.

"Alright then let's get started shall we?" Naruto smiled.

**-Hot Springs-**

"Are you sure we should be doing this boss?" the young boy asked Naruto.

"Well you want to learn how to make a cool henge right? Well you got to learn what to use for it," Naruto explained as they came to the hot springs. "I mean I used the reading material my dad reads as a start but I needed something a bit more to get the right details on the sexy jutsu and where better than the hot springs?"

So far the training hadn't been going as good as Naruto had hoped the boy could henge but they were terrible. Then again he was just as bad when he first started too until he got some help with it. So after getting the basics down it was time to work on the image and he needed to get the kid an idea of what to look like so they arrived at the Konoha hot springs, it was one of the largest ones in the land of fire and had a lot of business.

There was nothing better for a ninja after hard training or a day's work to come here and relax. His dad had taken him here after some intense training many times and so he knew the way around the place.

They walked quietly to it and at first he thought of using a henge to get in through the front into the women's section, but the first and last time he tried that he ended up being beaten and his father called in to give him a punishment for it. So this time he snuck around to the trees in the back where it was safer and easier to spot them. Okay he knew it was perverted but after all he needed references for the jutsu after all but what they didn't expect was to find a man in red clothing, with sandals on and with very long white and spiky hair. The man seemed to be looking through a hole in the wall and making notes it looked like.

"Hey old man what are you doing?" Naruto asked him and the man nearly jumped.

He looked at first thinking he was caught again but sighed and then looked annoyed at the two boys, "Kids I'm busy getting some research material go and play somewhere else will you." He told them going right back to his research. He had came to Konoha to report in like he did now and then to the Hokage and decided a little detour was in order before leaving again.

Naruto crossed his arms at the man, "Hey so are we so move your old ass gramps, I'm trying to teach him a move of mine and he needs to know what to do."

At this the old man looked at the boy with interests and grinned, "Ah so we got a couple of young perverts in training then it's my duty to train you boys in the way of the pervert!"

"We don't want to be 'trained' as perverts," Naruto told him simply, "We just need a little look so he can get an idea and then we'll be on our way."

"Ah kids today have no standards!" he yelled out with tears falling down his face, "Where have the younger generation gone? To think such young boys will never know the full joys of being a pervert it's a crime against nature!"

"Man this guy really is a big pervert," Konohamaru said to Naruto trying to whisper but the old man caught it.

"I'm not a pervert! I'M A SUPER PERVERT!" He bellowed out but that was not the brightest move he made as the entire female group in the hot springs heard it.

"Is someone out there!?" a woman's voice called out.

"If there is they are dead!" another rang out.

"Hey you the Hyuga woman is there anyone there?" at that the boys froze knowing full well what that meant as the white haired man paled, he had missed seeing a Hyuga but then again he wasn't exactly looking at the eyes of the women.

"There's some old man there and two kids!" A woman who had to be the Hyuga clan member yelled out.

"Crap! Runaway!" Naruto yelled out as they made a dash for it. He saw that Konohamaru was having trouble keeping up and he could hear the angry yells and curses of women getting out of the hot springs and the feel of a weapon just passing his head. Apparently there had been some female ninjas that day besides the Hyuga woman too. He knew he couldn't leave Konohamaru behind remembering what the women did to him he didn't want the kid to go through that.

Thankfully he was suddenly pulled up as someone grabbed him by the back of his black jacket as he felt himself going up and then crashing down. He felt something leathery and had bumps on it before feeling like he was going up in the air again and then crashing down. Once he gathered himself together he looked to see that he was on what looked like a giant toad, the white haired man was sitting on it and he saw Konohamaru on the other side. Naruto looked up at the old man wonder just who he was and where he got the toad, he figured it was a summons but he never seen on this big, it was bigger than even Bull the largest dog that his dad could call up.

"It's times like this that making a quick getaway comes in handy," he laughed as the boys started to enjoy the toad ride. By the time they lost the angry mob of woman they slipped off the toad at this point the man looked at the boy more closely. He was really looking at the blonde hair and blue eyes and the mask was also something else that caught his attention. He had been too interested in his research to notice it before but he knew the kid alright.

"Hey kid with the mask what's your name?"

"Naruto Hatake and who are you anyway?" Naruto asked him.

The man smiled and began a strange dance on the giant toad, "I my boy am the great toad sage, a ninja of unparallel power and skill whose good looks make women swoon and enemies tremble in terror, I am a master of seals and the author of one of the greatest series of novels of all time I am the Toad Sannin Jiraiya!"

Naruto and Konohamaru stared at the old man with a deadpan expression until Naruto spoke up, "So you're the one that writes those books my dad loves so much."

"Ah so your father is a fan then well then I guess you can't be all bad," Jiraiya grinned.

"Naruto can we go now?" Konohamaru asked him getting a little creeped out by him. Naruto nodded his head as they turned to leave.

"Well anyways see you around Ero-Sannin!" Naruto said back to him as Jiraiya scowled and yelled at the boy who just laughed running away with Konohamaru.

Jiraiya watched the boy leave and grinned he knew who Naruto was after all not many people had that kind of blue eyes and blond hair. It had been a very long time since he last saw the boy he stopped by now and then to check in on how Kakashi was raising the boy. It was hard to watch Naruto as looking at him made him think of his pride and joy Minato. The boy was so much like him in the looks department it was hard not to feel that pain in his chest looking at the boy. He remembered being there for Naruto's third birthday although the kid wouldn't be able to remember him, and on his ninth birthday he had watched from the shadows as he played with his friends.

It was nice to see him growing up in a loving environment and it was a good thing that he had Kakashi to take care of him. He sighed to himself as he urged the toad to the gates of the city he still had work to do. He had found out what had happened to Itachi and the group he had joined and that wasn't good at all. If they were gathering up the demon vessels that meant that Naruto would be put into danger down the line, plus there were rumours that his old 'friend' Orochimaru was on the move again after all this time. He had a lot of work ahead of him but for a moment he wondered if he should stop by more often, the boy had obviously made genin as he saw what was on the black headband on his head was an indication.

He thought that before he could leave maybe look to see if he could find Kakashi first and have a talk with the man.

'_Maybe it's time I stop running from the past,'_ he thought to himself the chunin exams were a ways off so maybe he'd show up around that time after talking with Kakashi. _'It might be nice to get to know the kid instead of just watching him although I will get him back for that Ero-Sanin crack, I swear I never get any respect.'_

**-Later that day-**

"Okay let's see how that move is now," Naruto asked Konohamaru. It had been an hour since his meeting with that crazy old pervert and now he was seeing the results of Konohamaru's training under him.

The boy nodded and formed the hand seals, "Sexy Jutsu!"

There was a puff of smoke and there was now a knockout of a brunette with long hair and Naruto have to admit the illusion was very good. He was glad he knew that wasn't real or else that would have caused a nose bleed even on him. He smiled under his mask and nodded his approval, Konohamaru reverted back and jumped for joy at this.

"All right now I can use this on Gramps and beat him and prove that I can be Hokage." He shouted out.

"Well true this will 'beat' him," Naruto said to him, "But using this wouldn't mean you're Hokage material kid."

"What!? But if I can beat him then I'm stronger than him and the Hokage is supposed to be the strongest ninja!" Konohamaru yelled at him.

Naruto didn't say anything at first he just walked right up to Konohamaru who looked confused up at the boy. "Idiot!" Naruto yelled out and slammed his fist into the top of Konohamaru's skull, making the boy wince in pain and fall to the ground clutching his head.

"That's not what being Hokage means," Naruto yelled at him and got into a more serious mode, "The position of Hokage is one of strength but there's more to it. The Hokage protects this village and everyone in it and that's why I'm going to be Hokage. I need to be stronger than I am now so one day I can protect and defend my home and the people in it. So I can protect those precious to me like my friends and family. To be Hokage means more than just being strong Konohamaru and you should be Hokage for the right reasons."

"I want to be acknowledged as well but I also want to protect this village even if it means my life. I would die for to protect my village and family can you say the same?"

Konohamaru looked up at the boy and his words reached him, he looked down at the ground that he was sitting on. He never thought about any of that all he wanted was to be looked at as more than just the Grandson.

"Remember who my father is too," Naruto said gently to the boy although what he didn't know was that Naruto was referring to both his fathers. His adopted father Kakashi and his biological father Minato as well, "I have a lot to live up to but you know what? That just means I have to get stronger and go beyond them. I'm going to surpass them, sure you can lay out the Old Man with that move but would it really be a defeat?"

"It's kind of a cheap way to win sure it's fun to pull for a cheap shot but I once did that with a boy named Lee and although I 'won' after it I didn't feel like I won. Because I know that in skills he was hell of a lot stronger than me so you know what I decided? I decided to earn my wins, I don't want to resort to cheap tricks like that so I train very hard to be as strong as I can be. I can't surpass them if I can't match them in their skills first and neither can you."

Konohamaru looked up at the boy at that point and Naruto smiled down at him, "If you really want to one day be Hokage you have to train hard because not only do you have to surprise the Old Man and protect this village, but you'll have to surpass me one day as well."

Konohamaru grinned up at him and stood up he looked into Naruto's blue eyes and he could see the determination there and Konohamaru matched his look. Naruto could see the fire beginning to burn in the young boy's eyes and he saw that his words had reached him.

"Naruto," Konohamaru said to him, "Thanks and you're right. I want to be seen as strong so I'll train hard and one day I promise I'll beat you for Hokage!"

"Good I look forward to it," Naruto laughed and he looked at him as something hit him. "First thing is that you're going to have to change your look, get rid of that skull cap thing it makes you look like a baby and the scarf is way too long."

"Hey my mom gave me this," he pouted and Naruto guessed he couldn't make him give that up. So he did the next best thing. He took off the skull cap and wrapped the scarf around the boy's face. Now his lower face was hidden behind the scarf like his was and he smiled at the boy. Konohamaru smiled back at him.

"Now you look more like a ninja!" he gave the boy a thumbs up.

"Cool so what now more training?"

Naruto shook his head, "Naw actually I was on my way to meet two friends at the park." He saw the downcast look on the boy's face and decided on something, "hey you can come too one of my friends is your age anyway so it's always great to make new friends."

"Really? Cool let's go then boss!" he yelled out.

"Alright but don't call me boss it just feels weird." Naruto said as they started making their way to the park.

"Can I call you Naruto-niisan then?" the boy asked and Naruto thought about it and nodded. He always wanted a little brother and Konohamaru was a cool kid anyway.

"There you are!" Ebisu jumped out of the woods that they were traveling in. "Honorable Grandson I have been looking for you for hours where have you been and what have you've been doing and why are you wearing your scarf like that?"

"Man you ask a lot of questions," Naruto said to him.

"I was with Naruto learning to be a ninja," Konohamaru said to him although he did skip the whole training in the Sexy Jutsu technique since that didn't sound as good as training as a ninja did.

Ebisu crossed his arms, "Although Naruto is a genin and his father is a top rank jonin I so specialize in training ninjas and if you want to be strong I can show you how to get there quickly if you just follow my teachings."

Naruto scowled at that, "Hey there's no quick way to strength at least not true strength that much even I know."

Naruto thought back to lessons he had learned from people like Gai, his father, Lee, Anko and others. They all had to earn their place and no one had given them anything as they had to earn what they had so to him the 'easy way' was never the good way to get to your goal.

Ebisu pushed his shades up higher on his face, "Well be that as it may I am a special jonin for a reason Naruto and I know that Konohamaru can become very strong very fast if he just sticks with my training."

Naruto crossed his own arms not liking the man's attitude now he understood why his dad always said that Ebisu is strong ninja but lacked a good personality he also said something else that reminded him of something that Ebisu tried to keep hidden. He smirked dangerously as his prankster side was getting ideas already.

"Oh yeah what if Konohamaru and I beat you in one move?" Naruto asked him.

"That I would like to see very much young Naruto."

He looked to Konohamaru, "Alright I know what I said but in cases like these they are special cases so let's show him what I've taught you."

He winked and Konohamaru sudden got what he was talking about as he grinned. They both grinned as they made the hand seals and cried out Sexy Jutsu, Ebisu coughed as there was a large amount of smoke and when it cleared his brain froze. There standing there were two young looking very sexy women, a brunette and blonde with the cloud just obscuring their private parts. His jaw dropped as this was not something he had been prepared for.

"What are you looking at Ebisu-kun, don't you like us?" Naruto said in his sexy girl form giving him that cute pout look. That was it for the special jonin as he shot off leaving a trail of blood behind.

The kids transformed back and ran off laughing leaving the man twitching on the ground with a stupid grin on his face.

**Next up Chapter 26: Parks and Training**


	26. Parks and Training

**AN: Okay I've said it before but please no more one word/sentence reviews they're very annoying and don't really tell me much on how I'm doing as a writer. Sorry for how late this took, just moved into my place and only got internet yesterday.  
**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 26: Parks and Training**

Naruto was leading Konohamaru through to the park and they talked on the way there, he got to learn a bit more about Konohamaru on the way there. Apparently he was an only child and liked a lot of things, although the boy hadn't had ramen yet so he resolved to fix that mistake as soon as possible. Konohamaru also learned a few things like that Naruto knew his uncle Asuma well from Naruto's father and the Hatake poker games. The two were having some fun talking when they arrived at the park and Naruto started to look for Hinata.

He didn't have to look far as he saw Hinata pushing her little sister on a swing set, the usually reserved little sister was actually smiling. Hanabi usually acted much like a 'typical' Hyuga inside the compound but when Hinata got her outside to play she could just be a little kid again. He also saw that Hinata wasn't alone this time as Neji was there as well most likely as the 'body guard' for the Main House members. Although he looked impassive there with his arms crossed just watching Naruto could tell that he was enjoying the sight of his cousins playing.

"Hey Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan, Neji!" Naruto called out to them all and they looked. Neji nodded to him, as Hanabi gave a small wave while Hinata smiled and gave a timid little wave with a blush.

They walked up and Naruto smiled at them, "Hey guys I'd like you to meet Konohamaru Sarutobi. Konohamaru this is Hinata, Hanabi and Neji Hyuga."

"Hey nice to meet you guys," Konohamaru smiled behind his scarf.

"Sarutobi," Neji said thinking about that name, "Are you related to the Hokage?"

Konohamaru stiffened a little and his shoulders dropped, he really didn't want them to know about that right off the bat now he could already seeing them being nice to him just because he was the Hokage's grandson. He hated that like how the parents of other kids made their kids try to be friends with him even if they didn't like him just because they could get close to the Sarutobi family. He found that out pretty fast and put a stop to it by usually acting like a jerk so they would leave him alone.

Although there were at least two kids that he knew at school that seemed okay but only time would tell with them.

Naruto saw the downcast look on the boy's face and had a feeling what he was feeling, "Yeah he's the grandson of the Old Man but he hates being called Honorable Grandson and all that crap."

Hinata came forward and bent down to face the boy and gave him a kind smile, the kid looked up at the girl and he had to admit she looked really friendly and kind of pretty too. "Don't w-w-worry we know what that's like g-g-growing up in the Hyuga clan, Hanabi and myself are the daughters of the l-leader of our clan so I know what that is like."

Konohamaru smiled at the girl it wasn't often that he could find someone that seemed to know what it was like. He turned to see that the girl on the swings had jumped off and was walking up to him, she looked kind of like her older sister only with longer hair. She seemed to be looking at him oddly and it was making him a little nervous until the girl looked up at Naruto with a glint of humour on her pearl like eyes.

"Are you brainwashing little kids now to be like you Naruto-niisan?" Hanabi smirked a little.

"What? Why do you say that?" Naruto demanded.

"He looks a bit like you with his scarf covering his face," she pointed out.

"Is there anything wrong with that?" Naruto said.

Hanabi looked at Konohamaru and tilted her head a bit after a moment she shook her head, "No nothing wrong with it." Konohamaru wasn't sure why but he felt his cheeks heat up a bit from the girl looking at him like that and saying it. He didn't know why but she seemed to be more confident than her older sister that was for sure.

Hinata giggled at the sight, "I-I'm remembering when N-Naruto-kun and I met."

Naruto thought about it and smiled brightly, "oh yeah that was one of the best days ever I made the first real friend that day," Naruto eyes dimmed a bit as he looked a bit sad, "You're mother was there that day I remember you hiding behind her."

Hinata had on a sad smile although it had been a few years it still hurt that her mother was no longer living and she looked to see her younger sister. She barely even got to know their mother since she had been so young most of the images she knew were from pictures that Hinata kept safe. She saw Neji look away and knew that he too felt the loss, her mother had always been kind to the branch family and to her uncle and cousin as well.

Konohamaru noticed the sudden drop in the group and he had to guess that it had something to do with their mother he didn't want to ask since it looked like a painful thing, he would save that for later instead he decided to break everyone out of this. He grabbed Hanabi's hand since she was closest and started to quickly move to a jungle gym set in a sphere.

"Come on let's go and play this is a park and parks are where you're supposed to have fun!" the boy said as Hanabi was surprised by the boy and went with him so she didn't trip or be dragged. Now that Hinata saw that she fell into giggles again smiling that was exactly like how Naruto got her to play all those years ago. She cast a look to Naruto and saw him smiling behind his mask at the scene and she guessed that he was remembering the same moment too.

Naruto broke out of his thoughts as he remembered something that he meant to ask Neji the next time he saw him, "Oh Neji can you do me a favour?"

Neji raised an eyebrow since he wasn't sure if this was the normal one of like the time a few years ago while still in the academy. He had ran into Neji and asked him to hold something for him and then ran off, it turned out to be a paint can and that was when one of the teachers caught up and as it turns out Naruto had tried to make a piece of 'art work' in the teacher's lounge. That hadn't been a good day for Neji although he did get Naruto back for that later as after yet another prank he was running by Neji so he just tripped the boy.

Naruto had been caught and glared at the Hyuga boy but later grinned at him, apparently he knew what Neji had done and why and accepted it.

Although ever since then he was wary of whenever Naruto said 'can you do me a favour' from that point on like he was at this point in time.

"Oh come on I just wanted you to ask Lee if he wants a rematch with me sometime," Naruto sighed seeing the look on the boy's face.

Neji nodded his head, "Sure he has been looking forward to it but don't you dare use that jutsu you used on him again, despite that Gai-sensei would disapprove you remember what Tenten did right?"

Naruto paled remembering the angry girl with all the really, really sharp weapons and had killer aim (literally) on his ass after that. Thankfully she wasn't angry anymore but he learned that ALL women especially Kunoichi were extremely dangerous when angry.

"Oh trust me I got a new move that will lay him out and I didn't feel right winning that way it was a cheap shot and I want to beat him fair and square," Naruto told him.

"Good although he's been training extra hard and was trying to train while blindfolded," Neji told him and seeing the expressions on both Naruto and Hinata's face he sighed. "It was Gai-sensei's idea to over come the Sexy Jutsu he figured if Lee could fight without seeing it then it wouldn't work."

Naruto thought about that and smack his head, "Oh man I never thought of that! If someone can fight without seeing it's damn useless that's pretty smart of them."

Hinata and Neji sweat dropped at that statement as they couldn't believe that he actually agreed to that.

Meanwhile Konohamaru and Hanabi were on the playground equipment as they watched the older kids. "Hey Hanabi is your sister okay? She stutters a lot and she seems to blush a lot around Naruto-niisan."

Hanabi nodded her head, "She has a huge crush on him but he doesn't know and she's too afraid to tell him."

"Oh man how long has that been going on?"

She sighed, "For years as long as I can remember now that I think about it she's always been like that around him."

"Really how long have you known Naruto I only just met him today."

Hanabi smiled as she couldn't remember a time she hadn't known him, "All my life, he and my sister have been friends since before I was born and he always comes over and is the only none Hyuga who can just come and go from out compound, he's like an older brother. A bit goofy and stuff but he's always been fun."

Konohamaru smiled at that, "That's cool...so is it because he's such good friends with your sister that he can just come and go?"

Hanabi shook her head, "Well not all of it before I was born a Cloud ninja tried to kidnap my sister and might have gotten away with it but Naruto-niisan stumbled onto it and beat the ninja."

Konohamaru looked back quickly to the three older kids looking at Naruto with new respect as he was joking around with the other two. Sure he was a genin and stuff but he didn't think he was strong enough to take on a real ninja when he was younger. _'Naruto must be really strong then...I've got to catch up then! I won't be left behind he may make it to Hokage before me but I will take over after him and I promise to not take the easy way either.'_

"So are him and your sister dating?" Konohamaru asked seeing how the two were interacting.

"Well she really likes him and I know she would love to be his girlfriend but she's too shy to do anything about it and as for him well, he's totally clueless about it."

Konohamaru looked over watching the two again and he had to admit she seemed like a nice girl, "Would you want them to be together?"

Hanabi nodded at once not even needing to think about it, "Yeah and if they got married then he really would be my brother."

She blushed a bit at that she never told anyone that and it just kind of slipped out but it was true she always thought that Naruto and Hinata would be great together and having him as her brother in law would be great. He would be there all the time and she knew it would make her sister totally happy in life too.

"Well let's help them out then," Konohamaru smiled broadly at her and she had to smile back.

After that they started to play some together as they made plans for getting Hinata and Naruto together plus Hanabi despite herself was starting to have fun, there were no other kids her own age in the main branch and the kids in the other branch stayed away from her so she didn't have any kids her own age to play with. So meeting another kid her own age that didn't seem to care about her station in life about her clan or anything. With him she was just another kid and she was growing to like this as well, she hoped to see more of Konohamaru.

**-Elsewhere-**

Kakashi was reading his usual book as he was currently reading vol. 2 of his beloved series, walking through the streets of the village he somehow avoided all the people, carts and anything else in his way without looking. It was an odd sight to see at times for a man with only one eye (hence no depth perception) reading and still avoid everything and anything in his path. If it wasn't for the fact he would read out quietly to himself bits and pieces people wouldn't even thing he was reading. He was just getting to a good part where the young lovers had just escaped from a band of enemies and were hiding out in a cave.

They were wet from the rain so they had to let their clothing dry, he let out a perverted giggle as he knew where this was heading but he didn't dare skip ahead it took the flavour out of things that way. He was just getting to where the girl was shyly blushing when he felt a large chakra signature overhead. He looked up and was surprised to see Jiraiya there up on a roof top.

"So back in town huh?" Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"Well I was making a report and was just about to leave," he dropped down to face the man. "So how is the boy doing?"

Kakashi was wondering how long it would take for him to get to the point but something seemed off to him, he seemed a bit more direct than usual. He decided to see where this was going and continued on as usual with the man.

"Naruto is doing great, he passed with high marks and the only one that seemed to give him a run for his money was Sasuke Uchiha the two have a type of rivalry which seems to help push the other to new levels. I'm actually surprised at how advanced the boys are."

The Toad Sannin nodded his head hearing this, "Well that's good I know that Minato would be honoured that you were teaching his boy." He noticed a bit of a pained look in Kakashi's eye but it went as quickly as it came. He wasn't sure it was the mention of Minato or a reminder that Kakashi wasn't Naruto's biological father. In any case he mentally shrugged as he thought of something.

"You know I might be back for the Chunin Exams so if the boy is getting pretty far I might teach him a few things maybe even get him to sign with the Toads."

"I was actually thinking of giving him the contract with the dogs fairly soon," Kakashi interjected.

Jiraiya frowned a bit, "I don't bad talk them they are great summons for trackers but Naruto will need something a bit more powerful to deal with things that are going to be ahead of him. When the truth gets out about his biological father was you can bet that a certain village would love to get their hands on his legacy."

"Plus there is something else someone is trying to gather the tailed beasts and the people who carry them within." He said softly to him in a dark voice.

Kakashi's eyes widened a bit then narrowed, "Who are they?"

"Still looking into it but a few years ago it looked like my old teammate Orochimaru was part of them that's how I stumbled upon the group while I was tracking him. Lost him for a bit but it seems he quit the group but I heard something disturbing about a member in their group."

"Who?" Kakashi asked keeping his voice low.

"Itachi Uchiha."

That name alone was one that was never uttered but everyone knew the name, who could forget the man that killed one of Konoha's clans even the clan that had helped forge the hidden village and only left one survivor. The fact that Itachi was involved worried Kakashi, he was good but he wasn't sure he could match up to Itachi. Even though people called Kakashi a genius, Itachi took that to whole new levels.

"I'll have to plan for that and make sure that Naruto is ready," Kakashi muttered to himself.

"Hold on don't forget his team Kakashi," Jiraiya told him quickly, "he has a team for a reason and they will most likely get caught up in this too so you have to make sure they are all ready. Maybe teach them what you can to survive."

"Like what my chidori or rasengan?" Kakashi asked him.

"Only if they can handle it but try to do things small and work from there."

Kakashi nodded to himself already making more and more plans the ground work would have to be established first but after they got the basics down they would be able to train a lot harder too. Plus there was something else that he had been preparing Naruto for but after what Jiraiya said he would have to modify things a bit. Oh well it just meant more work and although he liked to be lazy or appear that way when there was hard work to do he could do it like none other.

"Hey Kakashi!" came a somewhat angry yell and both men turned to look to see a serious looking Anko coming up to them.

"Anko what's up?" Kakashi asked noticing Jiraiya leering at the special jonin and he wasn't sure how he felt about that Anko was a close friend and he was a bit bothered by that.

"Well I had an interesting experience at the hot springs today," She said placing a hand on her hip. She failed to notice that Jiraiya paled a bit and started to sweat a little trying not to be too noticed at the moment.

"You see I just off a nasty little mission so I thought that having a nice stop at the hot springs would be nice and it was, until some old pervert and two perverted kids were peeking on the women. I didn't get a good look but I heard one of the boys was wearing black and orange with a mask. And I was thinking who do I know that fits that description?"

Kakashi sighed and hung his head, "I have no idea what he was doing there Anko but I will find out and trust me the boy will be punished for it."

"Hey there go easy on the kid after all it might not have been his fault," Jiraiya spoke up.

Anko looked at the man closely taking a step forward, "wait a minute the man they described was said to have long white spiky hair too."

Jiraiya stiffened and started to look for a quick exit plan, "Hot springs? There are hot springs here when did they get put in I'm usually off for long periods of time so I guess that they could have been put in while I was away."

Anko's eyes narrowed not believing that for a second, "Unless you've been gone for over a over fifty years they have been here for a long time and everyone in the village knows about them."

"Oh...uh...yeah..." he was starting to feel a little killer intent and looked to Kakashi. "Hey don't suppose you could get your girlfriend to calm down a bit?"

"Girlfriend!?" Both of them said at that and they looked at each other for a moment.

"Anko has been a good friend for years," Kakashi said to him.

"Yeah," Anko said fighting off a blush she really didn't want to seem 'girly' in front of other male ninjas but for awhile now she had been entertaining the thought ever since she saw him without that mask she couldn't help but think about that handsome face behind the mask.

"Really I would have thought she was your type too," the old man teased the two younger ninjas. "I mean she's got a great figure right?"

Kakashi was about to say something when he realized he wasn't sure what to say, on the one hand he couldn't deny that she was definitely one of the best looking kunochi in the village and she was pretty fun to hang out with. He had gone out (when Naruto was old enough or he got a sitter) with other jonins to drink and she could hold her own. She was pretty skilled and with a bit more training she could one day make full jonin as well, he did like her hanging out and Naruto really liked her as well.

But on the other hand if he admitted that he had looked at her and her body how would she react to that?

Anko noticed his hesitation on commenting and was annoyed by that but she wasn't sure for what reason so she gripped open her coat, "What you don't think this is a hot body and you better be honest because I work hard to get looking this good."

Kakashi swore in his head this wasn't what he needed although he couldn't help to take a look, she was very trim, she had an athletic build but kept her feminine form all in all she had the perfect Kunoichi body. He was about to say something when he saw Jiraiya giggling and making notes so he turned to glare at him. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all keep it up you two," he snickered but then froze as he felt two killing intents hitting him and he slowly looked up from his note pad to see both ninja glaring at him. Kakashi cracked a knuckle while Anko took out one of her kunai. The older ninja gulped and gave a small innocent smile before bolting for the nearest gate out of the village and he soon had a couple of angry ninjas on his tail as well.

**-One Week Later-**

It had been a week and so far Team 7 was just finished with a couple of D Ranked missions, they were just finishing up clearing up a lawn while Kakashi was reading one of his books. It had been a fairly simple week so far, some missions with a little training to see where everyone was in their skills. So far Sasuke and Naruto were very skilled although Sakura was very smart she was more book smart and he was already trying to think of ways of improving her other skills. She wasn't so bad, at least while she had been friends with Naruto and the others she had gone over and trained with Ino at times so she had skills in fighting but so far no justus of her own at least yet.

He was also thinking of a few surprises for his students he had been thinking hard on how to teach all three and how to make this a real team. He thought back to his own days as a genin with Naruto's father teaching him with Obito and Rin. He also had been thinking about the whole thing with Anko last week as well. So far they had been pleasant together but there was something going on like something going on under it all. He sighed he hated this things were so much simpler but he couldn't think of that now at least not yet.

He looked up to see everyone finished and snapped his book shut, "Alright looks like we're all done here."

"Us? We did all the work all he did was read again," Naruto muttered to the two others who nodded slightly.

"Well come on before I report in for the team I think it's time for you all to learn a new ninja skill," Kakashi said as he led them into their training area. When they got there he could see Naruto excited as usually although he would have to disappoint him this time.

"Alright while I'm reporting in I also have some things to look into, Naruto I want you to teach them the tree walking exercise while I'm gone." Kakashi said.

Naruto groaned, "Oh come on Pops I already know this! I mean sure I don't think they know but I learned this while in the academy why can't you teach me something while they're learning this?"

"Naruto you are in a team and as such this is a team exercise as well as training," Kakashi then eye smiled, "Besides they could use your help with this advanced chakra control exercise too and if you really want try to do it on water once they got the hang of it."

"Wait you can do it on water too?" Naruto said excited. Kakashi nodded although what he forgot to tell him was that you had to use your chakra differently oh well not trying to get wet was a nice way to motivate him to learn faster.

"Alright you can count on me!" Naruto said happily.

Meanwhile the other two were wondering just what was going on, Sakura was eager to learn something new while Sasuke was a little irritated that Naruto seemed to know something that he didn't and that meant that he would have to train even harder to surpass him in whatever it was that they were going to see. As soon as Kakashi left Naruto led them over to a few trees.

"Okay so what's so special that you of all people are supposed to teach us?" Sasuke asked with his arms crossed over his chest.

Naruto smiled under his mask it felt so good that he was going to show up Sasuke the guy always seem to know everything in school and it was great to show him something for a change. "Basically we're going to climb the threes but using only our feet."

"What, you can't do that can you?" Sakura asked him wide eyed although Sasuke gave a small grunt that he wasn't sure he believed it either.

"Sure you can Sakura-chan all you got to do is use chakra in your feet to stick on it like this," Naruto make a hand seal and concentrated. His control was still not that great but it was miles ahead where it originally had been thanks to his dad making him do this exercise among others all the time. He concentrated and started to walk up the tree he went all the way up to a very high branch and then jumped onto it.

"See nothing to it!" He shouted out to them.

Sasuke grunted and made the same seal and went to do the exact same thing only he only made it up one step before falling onto his back and he looked up annoyed at a laughing Naruto.

"I guess I forgot to mention that you need a set amount too much and you won't stick and too much and you can launch yourself right off the tree," Naruto laughed.

"And I bet you know that first hand too!" Sasuke shouted up at him as Naruto stopped laughing and sweat dropped scratching the back of his head.

"It was only a few times..." he muttered to himself although in truth it had been a lot of times before he got the hang of it. "So how are you doing Sakura-chan, huh where did she go?"

Naruto looked at the bottom but he didn't see her anywhere.

"Right here Naruto," Sakura's voice said next to him making the boy jump and nearly fall off the branch. He caught himself and saw Sakura there sitting on the branch giggling at how he looked clinging to the trunk of the tree.

"How...how did you get up here?" He asked shocked that she was up here.

"I did what you did it's not very hard," she told him.

"B-but it took me days to do this and you do it in one turn!? I can't believe you're so good at this your chakra control had got to be amazing," he said to her.

Sakura blushed at his compliment she knew that the boys were better in a lot of things so finally finding something that she surpassed them both in felt really good to her. Already her inner self was already doing cheers in her favour as well. Sasuke meanwhile was a little angry although he wasn't sure if it was against himself or not. He only picked himself up and decided to train even harder, there was no way he would be left behind he had a long way to go to reach his goal of avenging his family and clan and he would be the best there was in order to face him.

The three trained a lot that day, Naruto had Sakura run up and down the tree saying it was a good way to gain more chakra in your system and if Sasuke asked her for any advice as he was still trying. Although Naruto had to admit the other boy was doing better than he had when he started this. He went to a small pond in the area and tried water walking and ended up getting entirely wet for the entire time and only got to the point where he was standing on the water but his feet would keep sinking up to his ankles and any movement caused him to lose focus and fall in again.

By the end of the day Sasuke had got halfway up the tree, Sakura was dead tired and could barely move and Naruto looked like he spent the day in a rain storm. It was a very amusing sight when Kakashi returned at the end of the day to tell them training was over for the day but so far he could already see some improvements in his young team and he could wait until tomorrow when they started with weights on for their physical training.

**Next up chapter 27: First C class mission**


	27. First C Class Mission

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 27: First C class mission**

It had been a busy couple of weeks, every day team 7 usually had at least one or two D ranked mission and then trained after it. They had mastered tree walking and were learning more taijutsu skills lately as well, they were also getting used to the weights that Kakashi had put on them, he made them wear then the entire day even during the missions until they got used to them. The three genin were usually very tired at the end of the day because of it but Naruto usually was the one the bounce back first thanks to his little 'guest' in his stomach healing him.

They all had been working hard and Kakashi was proud of how they were doing, of course there were the little bumps along the way such as Naruto and Sasuke kept getting in each other's faces, Sakura usually played peace keeper but at times also had to rein in Naruto as well. It reminded him a lot of his own team when he was their age. Sasuke reminded him so much of himself at that age, Sakura was a lot like Rin, and Naruto was like Obito only he wasn't late like he was all the time. It seemed that fate had played some sort of joke on Kakashi but damn it if he could see the punch line to it.

They had just finished catching that cat Tora for the third time, the cat seemed to be okay in Sakura's hands although Naruto was covered in scratches again. It happened all the time and some animals didn't like Naruto most likely because of what was inside of him most likely made them uneasy. They were currently standing in front of the Hokage waiting for what he had to say. He noticed that Naruto was a bit tense for some reason and he could already sense him about to blow up about something. He thought of how he could prevent it but then again it was hard to prevent Naruto from doing what he wanted.

"Now then that's at least fourteen missions you've done and I do have a few others here that you could do as well," the Hokage said looking over the team's file, "There are a few more D Ranked missions here as well that you could do for the rest of the week..."

"No way!" Naruto shouted out finally losing his patience, "We've been doing these chores for two weeks and I want to put all the training to the tests. We're ninjas shouldn't be on actual missions or something? I mean I'll never get to be Hokage if all we do are these crappy things."

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted out at him giving him a small glare she just didn't understand why he couldn't just act respectful to others he mouthed off to everyone even the Hokage of all people. She sighed seeing that he calmed down but still had that determined look in his eyes.

"Although I hate to agree with the masked shorty I think he makes a point," Sasuke said.

Naruto was torn between thanking him and shouted back at him for the short joke, it wasn't his fault he was the shortest in his glass he just hadn't hit his growth spurt yet. He noticed his dad sigh with his hands in his pocket.

"Kakashi what do you think after all you did request this team for a certain reasons if I remember," the Hokage smiled at him.

Kakashi winced knowing what the Hokage was referring to he had made the claim of the kind of team that he was making so he now figured that he was now being called upon to prove some results. He was wondering if this was the Hokage's way of testing the team or it might be pressure from certain members about how far the last of the Uchiha was progressing. On the one hand he wanted to keep the kids safe until they were trained a bit more but he couldn't keep them from danger forever.

There was also the fact that both the boys were eager for action and there was something else that he had been thinking about. Most of the so called 'accidents' had stopped since Naruto became a genin, after all the death of a shinobi of the village would be looked into by ABNU after all but still maybe a mission out of the village for a time would do them a world of good. Naruto had never been outside of the village and he wasn't sure about the other two either.

"What exactly do you have in mind Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked him.

"Well there is a Rank C mission, mainly it's border patrol along the Northern border as we've been keeping reports of a bandit raiders. It's a small group from the sounds of it but last week they attacked a pay convoy of the Fire Lord and so he would like them taken care of before the next convoy goes out." The Hokage said to them.

"All right that sounds like an awesome mission we're on it!" Naruto shouted in joy at his first real mission.

"Naruto you don't get to say what missions we take," Sakura said exasperated with him.

Kakashi sighed knowing that if he didn't accept this Naruto would be impossible to live with until they get another mission like this. Plus it was fairly simple so maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all these types of missions you just went out and patrolled and maybe even the bandits had moved on. They could go out, maybe see nothing he could get them some training on the side and come back and at the worst they would just run into some bandits and he was fairly sure they could handle a rag tag group like that.

"Alright we'll take the mission," Kakashi said with a shrug, which of course Naruto was delighted to hear.

It took a few hours but they had to gather up supplies, Naruto kept asking his dad what he thought he should bring as the boy was excited it was his first real mission and he was leaving the area of the village for the first time in his life. He had heard and read all about other countries and what the Fire country was like so this would be great for him to see it in person. He finally managed to pack his backpack with the necessities that he would need for a week in the field. He took a few extra supplies just in case they were going to spend more time out there as well.

"Come on dad I want to go and you're not making us late!" Naruto said literally dragging his father out the door.

"Calm down kid and why do you assume we're going to be late?" He asked in that 'innocent' voice as he got a glare from Naruto making him sweat drop a bit. "Never mind."

They made it to the main gate on time for once which was a surprise to the other team members although with Naruto making sure his dad was still there with him and hauled him along made sure of that. Naruto smiled as they greeted and left the main gates, he couldn't believe that he was actually on a_ real_ mission for once and it was outside of the village. He couldn't wait to see some of the sights and to see how he would do in actual combat.

It was going to be awesome and he couldn't wait to get back and tell all his friends about it as well. He was walking with his two teammates with his dad in the back reading his book as they made their way to the boarder.

"Hey dad do you think we can get some training in while we're on this mission," Naruto asked him.

"Hmmm...Maybe if we got time for it," Kakashi said thinking about it.

"Can you teach us some new moves I mean the taijutsu stuff so far has been cool and yeah you keep having us tree climb and stuff but how about something cool? I mean I got shadow clones but I don't got anything much else and Sasuke has all those fire moves and what about Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked him.

Kakashi had been thinking on that for a bit and although he had been giving his students in the basics and getting their stamina, speed, strength and chakra up he had also been working on their fighting styles. Sasuke of course used his Intercepting Fist style of his clan but he had lots of holes in his style because no one could teach him. He guessed the young Uchiha was using old scrolls of his family to learn the style. Kakashi was familiar with the style and was helping him to develop it and give the boy pointers.

Naruto he had trained all his life in several styles to find what worked best for him, so far with the training with him, Gai and Anko gave him and even Asuma had taught him how to use knifes the boy was developing his own style. It wasn't complete or had a name to it but it fit his styles as it used speed, agility and had a few powerful hits to them but its major strength was that it was unpredictable like his son.

Sakura however needed the most work, the girl had some power in her hits as Naruto could attest when she really wanted to. But she only had basic style from the academy although she had picked up a few things over the years from her group of friends but he really needed to work on her. Her chakra control was nothing short of amazing but her reserves were way too low in his opinion. Which was why he had her do tree climbing daily to get those reserves up.

"So what kind of things will you be teaching up Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked the masked man. She was starting to get a little eager with what to learn plus she had finally gotten used to the damn weights on her ankles and wrists as well. Climbing those trees was something she was sick of doing and she was worried that she would be left behind she had no jutsus of her own other than academy stuff and she didn't want to be the weak link of the team.

"Yeah come on dad what's up?" Naruto asked eagerly.

Sasuke gave a small grunt, "We should be getting stronger and most of what we've done has been useless at least to me."

"Aw shut it you always say things like that but you didn't know tree walking did you and that's important skill to have," Naruto said with his arms behind his head.

Sasuke gave a small grunt that meant that he gave that to him but didn't have to say it out loud as his pride wouldn't let him. "All I'm saying is that we need more training how are we supposed to become strong if we just stick with things like this?"

"There are different ways to be strong Sasuke," Kakashi told him as the three genin looked back at him, "you can be strong in character, will, spirit, heart or just plain brute force. There are many ways and in a fight it's not always who has the best jutsus or skills sometimes it comes down to luck or something basic. Every battle is different and so it's best not to focus on mainly one point."

"Take the three of you each of you has strengths and weaknesses but none of you have the same weaknesses. That's why you're put into a team you help make each other stronger than you are as a whole."

Naruto and Sakura both nodded but Sasuke wasn't that impressed, he needed to kill Itachi himself to avenge his clan when he found his brother he would need to be able to fight him one on one and already he knew that he had a lot of catching up to do. His brother was already a jonin by this time while he was just still a genin. He needed to get stronger a lot more quickly than he had up to this point so whatever training he could get he would take. On missions he would do his best with his team but he was an avenger and he needed to remember Itachi's words, he needed to hate and use that to motivate himself to new heights.

Eventually when they got far enough Kakashi decided to take to the trees, it would help build them up plus with being able to climb up trees with chakra would make it easy enough. Plus it allowed him to see how they did physically as well, Naruto he knew had inhuman stamina so he wouldn't have to worry too much, Sasuke was above average of course he was looking at Sakura the most to see how she was doing. With all the tree climbing and running and other things he was trying to make her into a better ninja physically if she wasn't then teaching her any techniques would be pointless since she wouldn't have the stamina to use most.

He did however have a few items on him for training but he would have to see how they did by nightfall to see how they had progressed. So he watched as he put them through their paces they traveled up north through a few forests he noticed that Naruto was disappointed in not seeing anything other than trees making comments such as that they had trees back home. Sakura was trying to strike up conversations with Sasuke who mainly ignored her, that caused Naruto to argue with him about ignoring a friend.

It wasn't lost that he liked the girl too although since the girl wasn't sure which boy was better he had seen this happen before. The two would argue and Sakura was trying to be peacemaker between them both. Kakashi sighed as he remembered his own childhood as Obito and him were just the same and poor Rin was in Sakura's role. When they finally reached the boarder he had them start their patrol after a small lunch break. When they had a few hours of day light left he decided break for camp, Naruto with his shadow clones set up the tents, while Sakura made a fire pit and Sasuke went for fire wood.

By the end of everything he had to admit everyone had done well so he guessed he could at least try and give in some training. He smiled as he thought of something that could help test/train them and give him a few hours to enjoy his book.

"Alright good job for you three and as promised I'm giving you three something new to study," he heard a groan from Naruto but ignored that. He pulled out three scrolls and tossed one to each of them. "Sakura I think you'll be perfect for Genjustu so this scroll contains a few of them that you should be able to do with some practice."

"But how will I practice it?" she asked them.

Kakashi smiled at her, "Well that's what you got team mates for isn't it?"

The other boys looked slightly nervous well Naruto did as he was horrible with genjustu and was always worried he might never get out of them. Sasuke didn't show it but he didn't like the idea of being used as a lab rat. Sasuke opened up his scroll to see two new fire justus and her smirked fire was something he was good with so this would help. Naruto looked at his and found something called air armor and wind slash. He couldn't wait to start practicing them right away as thoughts of him using kick ass wind moves. He remembered how Hinata said he had wind affinity and it was a good thing his dad gave him this.

He frowned remembering that night with the scroll and that one wind technique that he found, unfortunately he couldn't remember the name or much about it by now he had so much to do he mentally cursed himself for that. He remembered a bit and maybe after he mastered this he could ask his dad if he knew that move and he could learn it from what he remembered it was something about having a condensed power of air in your hand. He also remembered because it was wind it had a tendency to shred up a hand of someone that didn't learn it properly.

"There is one more thing I would like you three to try," Kakashi said as he pulled out a scroll and unsealed the contents. From it a bunch of small hand held balloons appeared as he tossed one to each of them.

"What's up with this dad?" Naruto asked.

"Easy it's a little training exercise that my sensei made me pass in order to master a move of his, this led for me to learn my own original move as well as learn it so I wanted to see how you three handle it. The objective is to pop the balloon," Kakashi then saw Naruto going for a kunai in his equipment pouch on his leg.

"Not like that!" Kakashi said quickly as Naruto froze just about to take out the weapon. Kakashi sighed and sometimes wondered what his son was thinking at times. "You have to break it with your chakra like this."

Kakashi held up one of the balloons and they watched as within a second it exploded from the inside. Everyone looked at theirs and started to concentrate on using their chakra to get it to pop. Kakashi chuckled as he saw their frustrated looks, so he sat back against a tree and read his book as they worked hard on it. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to get them to try shape manipulation with chakra but it would keep them busy for awhile besides it would help them in the future.

After about an hour of no one getting it he told them to stop for the moment and start studying their scrolls he didn't want them to spend the entire time on just one thing.

Meanwhile across the forest hidden behind a genjustu a lone ninja was watching them, she was a young female of about in her early twenties looking at them through a spyglass. She was covered in clothing of a dark green robe with long sleeves, her long dark hair went down her back and she had on a large straw traveling hat that hid her face. She was looking at the ninja group and was trying to see which village they were from although given that she was in Fire Country it was a good bet that they were Leaf Ninja but she was just trying to make sure. She watched them before the tall one had the kids go to their tents while he took first watch.

She closed down her spy glass as she figured she would wait until the shift change and then make a move, that way she ran a risk of not being seen just in case.

**-Bandit Camp-**

The bandits were currently in their camp for the night they never stayed in the same area twice as it was a way they stayed ahead of anyone on their trails. The men were mostly just basic bandits that had been gathered by their leader and his lieutenants who were actually ninjas. Well they were actually ex-ninjas from the way they didn't have any symbols of where they were from but they had ninja gear and the skills. It was common to see ninjas that had either ran away from their village going rogue or maybe had even been kicked out.

They had no idea what village they were from although there were rumours and of course the few bets. Good money was on the Mist Village as they had a high number of ninjas that went rogue for good reasons. Some said Rock, others Cloud and a few Suna but no one knew for sure. Even their leader never used his real name which made them think that he was a missing nin trying to hide from hunter nins looking for his head for whatever bounty was on it. They only knew him as Scar from the scars on his face and the missing eye he had as well.

The camp held a few fire pits as the men gathered around them drinking and having a good time with their successes. They were a rag tag group, their clothing slightly tattered from overuse and slightly scruffy from long term living in the wilds of the forests but they were strong and in good health. They all carried various weapons and the camp had set up tents all around the area as well as a few carts to hold their supplies and whatever they had stolen up to that point.

So far they were looking for a place to have as a base so they could have somewhere to put everything safely.

In the main tent we fine the leader Scar looking at a map on the dirt ground with his lieutenants although they called him Scar his real name had once been Akira of the Cloud Village. But that was years ago before his shame. It all went wrong on that damn mission to the Leaf Village when he had tried to steal that Hyuga girl things had been going so well up to that point when HE showed up. It had looked like a boy but he knew that it wasn't a boy but a demon in a boy's clothing. The red chakra and the evil that came off it he knew what the thing had been. He still had the injuries from that night like the scars on his face and still he ached when it rained in certain areas.

That demon boy had been his downfall, when he had been taken back to the village they asked him over and over again who had done this to him and every time he told them the truth. He wanted to warn his village that the Leaf ninjas had a new ace up their sleeve only it wasn't the famed Yellow Flash but a new weapon to use against them. He told them about the boy and said that they should kill it before it got too old to be used against them. But they didn't listen no one believed his story and many thought that he had lost his mind. As he healed he knew that his reputation was over that no one would hire him and his village would see him as an embarrassment. Then of course he heard about their own demon girl, and things started to make sense. The girl was older but she had to be like the boy and that made her a danger to the village.

So he gathered up a few ninja that thought the same way and had tried to ride their village of her but they had failed the girl had lived and they had to go on the run as missing nins. He never used his real name anymore and his lieutenants had chosen new names for themselves as well. He never did understand how things had gone this way, if they had their own demon girl then why hadn't they believed him about the boy? Why did they keep the girl didn't they know she was a danger to them all?

There were many theories maybe they hadn't believed that the Leave village would go so far to create a weapon like they had with the girl, maybe they were going to use the boy to test their own weapon one day. Maybe they thought that just because it had been a young boy not even a genin that he claimed defeated him that none took his words seriously. In the end he came up with only one answer and that was that none of it mattered. It was the past and none of that mattered all that mattered was the future.

The flat to his tent opened and one of his trusted lieutenants came in, he was a large man with a shaved head and wore plate mail like samurai armor who had a huge war hammer on his back. The man went by the name of Bear now which was just how many saw him.

"Anything new to report?" Scar asked him.

"Sparrow has found a group of ninja in the area," Bear reported to him, "Reports so far is that it's a team from Konoha."

"Strength?"

"Three genins and a jonin by the looks of it."

Scar nodded his head the jonin might be trouble but a few genin wouldn't be very difficult. They could swarm the jonin and let the bandits handle the kids. Although when he asked who the jonin was Bear said that Sparrow didn't get a good look at them as she had used a spy glass to see them and not to be noticed. It was too bad about that but he figured this would happen sooner or later so it was best to take out this team and then move on. Maybe go into Grass Country or maybe Rice although he had heard rumours of that new village in that area but they couldn't be that much trouble if they were new.

"Prepare the others we'll attack as soon as we figure out where they are headed and get an ambush," he ordered and Bear nodded his head to get the others ready.

Scar looked at his map as he started to think about where to go next because as soon as this team was dealt with they would send another team only this time would be most likely chunin and above. They could handle this group but something like that would give them a lot of trouble and they couldn't move because that genin team might actually keep track of them and if they were going to move they couldn't leave a trail or let anyone know where they were headed. So they would have to take them out and then leave before the team was listed as missing.

**Next Up Chapter 28: First Blood**

**Bet you didn't see that coming did you? I planned on him returning and if you are still wondering who Scar/Akira is think back to Hinata's kidnapping. **


	28. First Blood

_**PLEASE READ THIS!**_** Okay I'm sick and tired of people commenting on this even though I've said it a many times if you don't read this and make the same comment I'll just ignore you and maybe even block you just because time and time again I've been forced to explain the same thing because people don't take the time to read Author's notes or bios where this had been explained before. **

**So first off I KNOW about the grammar/spelling that was my hardest subject in schooling and I had to take a special class for it. I still struggle with it today and was never taught some of the proper grammar rules I'm doing my best to learn and improve. So when you comment without giving good examples then do me a favour and don't bother. **

**The trick with the rasengan was just to introduce them to chakra shaping only Naruto will learn the Rasengan I don't do crappy things like the entire team learning it. I was going to show that if only a certain few (you know who you are) were patience enough to see where I was going. Hinata/Naruto relationship comes later just please be patient.**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 28: First Blood**

It had been a couple of days and so far nothing much was going on which to Kakashi was just fine, he kept his genins busy with training and giving them pointers now and then on how to look for signs that people had been in the area. He also figured that he had what he needed from the balloon training, so he stopped that training for them. Sakura ended up being able to make a small hole but after all that effort left her too weak. He had expected as much from her at this point she could control her chakra the best but she didn't have what it took to take the training any farther at least not without years of extra training to get her chakra up.

Sasuke and Naruto had done well with it, only just managed to make holes in them. Of course it took them longer than Sakura but they could do it a few times before they got tired. It was good since that meant both boys had the talent to take it up further although he wasn't sure about teaching them the full rasengan. Naruto he knew should have to learn it after all his was his legacy and given that Sasuke could have the sharingan when it was awakened and with that he could learn his own unique move.

But they still had a long way to go, he remembered how long it took himself to be able to break the balloon into pieces and not just make a small hole. It wasn't easy but this would help them later on when he started with a few other training techniques.

This was the first step for both moves and he had to admit he was glad at their progress, so after that he had them keep on learning on the scrolls he had. This turned out to be very interesting, Sakura had started to practice her genjustu on the boys. Apparently years with Naruto had rubbed off on her a bit and she had a slight side for being a prankster he wasn't sure what they saw but apparently the boys were staying away from the girl for the time being.

Naruto seemed to be having some trouble with the elemental thing but then Kakashi was just gave him the scrolls and although he took to the shadow clone jutsu using elemental moves took longer. Sasuke although he told to hold off until they either found a good body of water or they got home, he didn't like it of course but it was better than burning down the entire forested area and letting the bandits knowing where they were anyway.

So by now they were moving along the boarder and so far so good, they hadn't run into any trouble and whenever Naruto got twitchy without any excitement he would have Naruto fan out with shadow clones to scout the area for trouble or increased his training. Although that trick seemed to be losing its impact on him and the novelty of it was wearing it off. Plus Sasuke kept asking about the Sharingan and why he had it and how he could access his own, all in all Kakashi was getting a bit sick of things. What he hadn't known though was that their movements had been followed by the ninjas in the bandit group they were looking for.

The woman Sparrow was a specialist in spying and infiltration she had been quietly keeping her distance from them and sending out small messages to her leader on the movements. She was waiting for word from Scar on what to do hopefully they would soon because she was getting sick and tired of this. She was waiting in the trees before she felt a familiar presence and looked behind her shoulder. There was Bear there sitting on a branch behind her.

"What is the word?" she asked him.

"He says that we attack them when they reach the open area, the bandits will take care of the genin while we take care of the jonin," Bear told her.

She nodded with a smile she was glad to get things going, she couldn't wait for a decent fight being part of a band of bandits wasn't the life she wanted but when her home let that creature join their ranks she couldn't stand the place any longer. Although she thought joining another village would be preferable to this but they needed to prove their worth and sometimes a little money thrown the right way to grease the wheels could work as well. Which was why they even bothered to do this, they couldn't hire themselves out as ninjas as they were still being hunted anyway so this was the only option.

Sparrow removed her genjustu and left with Bear to plan the attack on the ninja team.

Meanwhile back with Konoha ninjas Naruto was getting bored, nothing happened and so far his first real mission was turning out to be a total waste of time. He hoped for some action sure he got to practice some new justus and he secretly was planning on continuing that training with the balloons that his dad showed him when they got back, but it was just so dull. How was he going to be Hokage if he couldn't test himself out for real?

By now they were just walking taking a break from jumping from tree to tree, Naruto looked to his right to see his dad reading his book as usual then he looked to his left. Sakura was studying her scroll most likely working on the genjustu in it, so far she was the only one that was getting anywhere in her own justus although he hated being put in them they just unnerved him for some reason and Sasuke seemed to particularly didn't seem comfortable by being placed in one for some reason.

So they walked on in silence as he didn't want to bother Sakura and Sasuke was usually the quiet one anyway and his dad was reading so he was left on his own just thinking. He was a bit disappointed in this for another reason he wanted to brag about his big adventure to all his friends. He really wanted to tell Hinata as well he had been looking forward to telling her all about this as well. He sighed thinking how Kiba would never let him live this down when he found out about just walking in the foods all this time and nothing to show for it.

'_Stupid Kiba I just know he'll laugh his ass off at this, at least Shikamaru won't say anything or Choji and Shino would most likely shrug as well,'_ he thought, _'although I was hoping to impress Hinata a bit after all she's been my closet friend. Kind of wish she was here instead of Sasuke at least she's nice to hang out with plus she's the nicest person I know I just wish why she blushes and faints all the time. Maybe I should ask her family if she's sick or something?'_

Meanwhile back in Konoha Hinata sneezed while trying to get into her Gentle Fist style stance in a training session with Kiba.

"Hey Hinata you catching a cold?" Kiba asked her as he froze a moment before attacking.

"N-no I don't think so," Hinata told him getting ready she wasn't however totally focused on her training. For the past few days she had been worried about Naruto ever since she heard he was on his first C Class mission she was worried something bad would happen. She just had a bad feeling about this for some reason and wished she was there with him he had spent so long protecting her that she wanted to do the same for him.

'_Please be careful Naruto-Kun,'_ she silently prayed to him.

Back with Team 7 they were just reaching a clearing that Kakashi figured might be a good place for some training for the team while they were searching. He was however also thinking about how off this felt, they should have seen some kind of sign of a bandit camp but no fire pits, large tracks or smoke was scene which was odd as bandits usually weren't this careless. Plus something else was suddenly nagging him, it was too quiet in the field they were entering there were no bird noises and no other animal sounds and that could only mean one of two things. There was a predator around the area...or they had just entered into a trap.

He looked at his team and saw that they were too preoccupied to notice he would have to work on that.

"Everyone I want you on your guard," he said quietly to them.

"Huh what's up pop?" Naruto asked.

"What did I tell you about a ninja and his environment?" Kakashi asked him.

Naruto looked puzzled and then remembered one of the camping trips that he taught him all about ninjas and certain skills. He looked around the area and didn't see anything out of the ordinary and then he tried to listen and it all seemed quiet but then he noticed that it was way too quiet. Even a forest with nothing going on had the usual sounds in the background and they weren't here.

'_Oh crap I can't believe I didn't notice this,' _he thought and gave his dad a look. Both Hatakes gave a small nod. _'I wonder how many there will be? Oh well I'll just shadow clone and take them on!'_

In the forest the bandits were already surrounding the group the ninja leaders told them to take out the kids although some of the men felt that fighting children was beneath even them but then again the ninjas had done a good job of leading them so any voices against this were quickly silenced by the majority. Now they only had to wait for the signal and they were to rush out and swam them, they were to keep the kids away from the adult.

A bird call was heard but it was the same one that the female ninja used, at one the men rushed out of the brushes and charged the kids.

"Everyone get into position, Naruto and Sasuke point, Sakura center with support!" Kakashi told them as he turned to face the others coming at him.

"Alright time for some action finally!" Naruto shouted out as he made his favourite seal and started to make shadow clones. The clones charged into the group of bandits as they were surprised to suddenly find a horde of blonde haired ninjas fighting them. Sasuke didn't want to be outdone so he decided to charge in as well, he jumped into a group of bandits and with his family style starting to take down bandits.

He used his kunai to block weapons and then using his feet and fist sent bandits flying back.

Sakura saw them and she didn't want to be left out as she smirked as she started to form hand seals to try out her new genjustu moves. "Distortion!"

The bandits that ran at the girl suddenly felt the world move under their feet as they were getting dizzy and found it hard to keep their balance. Sakura grinned at the effects as they were similar to being dizzy that was sent into their heads. For a ninja of some skill it wouldn't take much to break it but these weren't ninja. She ran forward and as they were trying to keep their footing she easily started to defeat them.

Meanwhile Kakashi had to doge a kunai that had been thrown at him and he was surprised to see the ninja weapon. They were only supposed to be bandits and not ninja but that would explain why the bandits were able to hide their tracks so well, they had professional help. He saw three figures drop down to him, one was a man with scars on his face as he wore an older looking ninja gear that had seen lots of use but little repair time. The other was a very large man with an equally large club weapon and finally what looked like a woman with long hair in robes and a large straw hat on her head.

'So they have missing ninjas helping them,' Kakashi guessed by their lack of head bands and their appearance. 'This complicates things the others seem to be focused on the bandits while the ninjas are after me. That's smart the kids don't stand a chance against three trained ninjas even if they are renegades.'

"Take him," Scar said as they all jumped to attack the Jonin.

Naruto was having a good time the bandits weren't expecting this team to be this good and they were making headway in beating them back. That is until he noticed that his dad was fighting against three people that didn't look or fight like bandits. "Crap guys look behind us!"

Sasuke looked and saw the ninjas and swore this wasn't in the mission briefing but at any rate he needed stronger opponents to test himself and with a vicious back hand to one of the last bandits in his area he saw that the bandits weren't much of a threat anymore. "I'm going to help you two keep it up."

Sasuke ran up to one of the ninja and threw several shuriken as him, the man was only lucky enough to had turned in his fighting Kakashi to notice and managed to twist his body enough to dodge them with only a couple giving him shallow cuts.

"Brat, Sparrow take care of this one," Scar said to her.

She nodded and ran to intercept the boy he was fast but she was faster. Sasuke was struggling with the woman as her strikes came in swiftly with knife like blows.

'_Damn it I need to be faster,'_ Sasuke thought and grunted from a blow. He tried to use a flame justu on the woman but she was too fast as she just dodge them. Then she stopped and started to make hand seals but he couldn't see them. Her robe had long sleeves and so her hands were hidden from sight.

"Illusionary warriors jutsu," she said and suddenly there were copies of her all over the place.

He dodged as a few kunai were thrown at him but he knew that they were illusions and only a few were real so one that was coming from his sides and behind he ignored as he knew she was in front of him. But he felt the cuts as the kunai scrapped his skin. He was surprised at that he quickly turned around wondering if she had gotten behind him.

'_How did she...she shouldn't have been able to get behind me that fast but those came at different angles too.'_ He thought as he dodged even more of them. Then he realized his problem he had been fighting this as though they were just clones, his spares with Naruto had been with shadow clones who were real bodies. Plus he was in a genjustu as well for all he knew the pain he felt wasn't totally real a few of the injuries could be real but he couldn't tell the real from the fake ones.

'I need to be faster or else I'm going to get killed!' he thought. He was focusing on his chakra trying to keep ahead although what he didn't noticed was that chakra was starting to build up behind his eyes. Suddenly the world shifted slightly for him, it was like he could see everything in a new light. It all looked the same but there was almost like a ghost image on the female ninjas. He also found himself being able to dodge faster as well. What he couldn't tell was that on the outside his eyes had changed into sharingan eyes, his left had two totems while his other only had one but they were giving him a much needed edge.

He also could see through her illusion as well, he could see the fakes and he ran towards the real ninja. She was surprised when he suddenly was able to see through her illusion she didn't understand how that was possible but she was caught off guard by some genin that had seen through it. Then she saw his eyes and she understood she had heard of those eyes and what it meant. She dropped her illusions and tried to fight him again but it wasn't the same this time around. He was blocking her attacks this time and as they fought she realized something else he was starting to copy her movements exactly and use her own moves against her.

"You little brat I'll kill you," she said and tried to use a kunai to stab him.

"Not today," he gripped her wrist and threw her over his head he heard her land and grunt and turned to quickly prepare for her counter attack. But she was just laying there motionless and for a moment he thought that she was faking but he didn't see any movements not even slight breathing. He slowly moved towards her and turned her onto her back and was surprised to see that she had landed badly and onto her kunai. It was deep in her chest and her eyes were lifeless, it was just bad luck she had landed like that but it was still strange.

He had thought about killing his brother for years but this was his first kill, yes she had tried to kill him but it felt strange he wasn't sure how to feel about this as he looked down at her.

Meanwhile Sakura was finishing up her own battles her new genjustu was proving to be very handy thing for her but she lost her focus on her surroundings and missed one of the bandits getting back up, he had only been stunned and saw the pink haired girl. He got up and threw a punch at the back of her head, she hadn't seen it coming and her head exploded in pain as she staggered forward then she felt a hit to her kidneys and felt herself being thrown to the ground. There were stars in her vision and suddenly she felt a hand on her neck squeezing her throat.

"You little pink haired bitch, I'm going to kill you for that," the man said as his hands gripped her neck.

Sakura was starting to panic from the lack of air and the pain in her neck she knew that if she didn't do something anything she was going to die. One of her hands went for her weapons pouch on her thigh and grabbed the first thing she could, she grabbed a kunai and stabbed the man in the side. He cried out in pain but his hands stayed where they were she just kept stabbing him she felt the warmth on her hands but ignored it.

Then when the world was going dark she suddenly could breath again she gasped for breath and started to cough. She rolled to her side and when she could steady herself she looked around and froze, she could see the man there ugly wounds on his side there was a lot of blood too and that's when she looked at the warmth on her skin. She had his blood all over her hand and forearm she had never thought about killing someone and she had just did it on instinct. She felt very sick at the moment and started to throw up her last meal on the ground.

Kakashi had been fighting the large ninja and he had to admit the man had some power, with that huge club of his if he connected then Kakashi knew he would be in having a bad day. Luckily he was faster than the large man to keep himself from getting hit by him but it wasn't easy as the man was like a juggernaut, he just kept on coming.

"I'm going to enjoy this you have any idea how much money is on your head Kakashi?" Bear asked him swinging his large club in a downward arc.

"Ah so you know of me huh?" Kakashi said before jumping aside from the blow that left the earth damaged in its blow. "Well sorry if I don't know who you are but I don't have time to deal with this."

He pulled up his headband to reveal his sharingan eye as he dodged the man again.

Kakashi jumped up high and started to make hand seals as he finished he blew out a ball of fire at the ninja. Bear quickly countered by creating an earth barrier that covered him in a dome came out of the ground. He maybe have been from the Cloud village which was good with lightning but he had picked up on a few earth style moves here and there over the years.

"That was pathetic," he muttered to himself getting ready to move when he heard the sounds of birds chirping at first he thought it was Sparrow but there were too many bird noises and he knew she couldn't do more than one at a time. That pause was just enough for Kakashi to get ready for his one original jutsu.

"Chidori!" Kakashi's voice was heard as the lightning blade came through the stone and sank into the large man's chest. He shouted out in surprise and pain feeling his chest on fire from the attack, he tried to move but his body felt heavy and he felt himself fall onto the ground. Kakashi looked down at the ninja with the hole in his chest and he could see the man had stopped breathing. With that out of the way he had to make sure the others were okay.

Naruto didn't know how it happened but he was fighting some ninja with nasty scars on his face. After finishing up with the last of the bandits he saw his dad getting double teamed well he wasn't going to stand for that. So he charged ahead to attack the man with the scars on him.

When he got there he started off with using his shadow clones to start things off with as usual with him. He tried to keep ahead of the man but the man was way too good and he was wishing he got those new justus down before this fight when he got out of this he would make plans to learn those two before he left the village again. He could have used his exploding clones but he was too close to his dad for that. He was grabbed by the ninja and suddenly found himself thrown into the woods while his clones kept on fighting. He would have been okay too if he hadn't had the rotten luck of being thrown into a thorn bush.

Nothing hurt more than all those little thorns at a fast speed cutting into him. Thankfully they weren't deep as he pulled himself out. "Ow, ow, ow, ow! Damn it I'm really getting pissed off with this guy...huh?"

He saw some tattered cloth on his face and pulled it, "That bastard! He ruined my mask!"

"Don't worry kid you'll not live to worry about it," Scar said looking down at the boy as the boy turned to face him the scared man suddenly looked at him in shock. With the mask gone he could see the strange marks on the boy's cheeks and with the blue eyes and yellow hair he knew who the boy was. It was the same boy from years earlier the one that had given him all those scars and ruined his career.

"You...of all the people I never thought I'd get the chance to face you again you little monster," Scar/Akira said to him growing the words out with as much hatred as was possible.

"What you saying that you know me or something?" Naruto shouted out as he threw a few kunai but the man just side stepped them glaring hatred at the boy.

"What's the matter boy don't you recognize your own handy work? You're the one that gave me these scars!"

Naruto looked at him frozen for a moment he was trying to remember where he could have done something like that but he couldn't remember anyone he had some something like that. His face looked like an animal attacked it anyway.

"Let me refresh your memory demon you remember the Hyuga girl?"

With that Naruto's eyes widened at the sudden memory of the night he had found Hinata being kidnapped. He could barely remember that night but a few things stuck out and looking at the man he thought he could see a bit of the man he met years ago but it had been so long and he had been so young back then.

'_I know I hurt that guy but...I did that to him? How could I do...was it the Fox?'_

"You ruined my life that night I know what you are or at least that you're not human. I saw the monster that you are that night I can't believe that the village let something like you live. All because of you I failed in my mission to get that girl."

"Why the hell did you try and take Hinata-chan anyway?" Naruto said angrily clenching his fist.

"Simple my village wanted her bloodline ability she was to be taken to Cloud and she would have been used to breed a new Hyuga line in our village and if I couldn't get her then I was prepared to just take her eyes. I'm sure that she could have survived even if blinded for the rest of her life but she most likely would have died from the pain and trauma anyway."

Naruto's teeth clenched at that, he never did find out why she had been taken but the thought of Hinata being taken and used like that filled him with rage and the thought of someone taking her eyes like that made him even more angry.

"That's it get angry boy I want to see that power again," Scar told him getting himself ready. He had waited years for this and last time he had been surprised but this time he knew what to expect and besides an angry opponent made mistakes as well so he might as well see just how far he could push the boy before he slit his throat.

He quickly moved forward faster than Naruto expected, the boy tried to fight off the man but his fighting skills weren't up to the man's level. He tried to throw punches and kicks but only ended up with them being countered and then he was hit hard in return. But no matter how many times Naruto was kicked down he never gave up he just got up and tried to go at it with more force. He created several shadow clones as he used them to try and overwhelm the man.

Scar only smirked as he started to make hand seals, "Lightning Storm!"

He shot out his hands as bolts of lightning shot out they arced and raced all over the place and his clones were hit and dispersed from the damage, the real Naruto got hit in the chest with one bolt. He felt his body stiffen as his nerves all flared up and he yelled out in pain as he was sent into a tree. He groaned trying to clear his head knowing that the man would attack him again but he had trouble feeling his body.

"Don't worry it's not permanent but you won't be able to move for a few seconds anyway more than enough time. Pity I expected more from a freak like you but I guess the last time was a fluke." Akira grinned as he slowly pulled out a kunai he wanted to enjoy this moment. He wanted the boy to suffer for everything that had happened to him since that night.

"And don't worry about your team I recognized at least two of them. The boy with that symbol on his shirt must be the last Uchiha I heard about. I'll have to make quick work or you boy to make sure they don't kill him with him I could make a deal to get back into Cloud. To have the mighty Sharingan in our possession would be something that my Kage would overlook my past actions for plus that was Kakashi Hatake out there wasn't it? There's many that would pay for the bounty on his head."

"Leave them alone," Naruto growled out trying to get up.

"As for the pink one she's nothing special but I know of some slavers that like them young so I can at least make some money off of her that way if she lives that is."

Naruto felt the blood rushing to his ears pounding against them thinking about that, he could see his father dead on the ground, Sasuke put into some cage and Sakura being tied up and dragged off. They were his father, his family his team and he wouldn't let this man destroy it. He felt the anger rise up and with it something else he wasn't sure what it was a warm feeling like a fire inside of him but he felt stronger with it. So he let it burn and grow within him, he could start to feel his body again and he looked up enraged at the scarred man.

Scar saw the boy's eyes turn into that familiar red, those red eyes that once haunted his nightmares, "That's it show me the true monster that you are!" He lunged forth trying to stab the boy but he was a lot quicker than before and managed to move out of the way. He quickly turned to see the boy on all fours like some kind of wild animal.

"Let's finish this boy, only one of us is leaving here alive this time!" Scar yelled out as both fighters started to move towards each other.

The others had just finished up dealing with the enemy, the bandits that could still run did leaving their comrades behind them but Kakashi let them go they weren't in any shape to chase them down and besides without the ninja leaders and the bulk of their forces they weren't much of a threat anymore. He scanned the area and took stock of things he saw Sakura looked a bit pale and a little shaky when he saw the blood on her he knew she must have just killed. He looked to see Sasuke with some blood as well but he seemed to be handling things better but he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

He looked around but suddenly noticed that Naruto wasn't with them, "Has anyone seen Naruto?"

Both genin looked at each other and then around and Kakashi got worried there was one ninja not accounted for. He was about to call them to start searching when they felt it, that same dark charka that Kakashi had felt before years ago. He looked to see where it was coming from and there was the sounds of battle going on. He was worried that maybe Naruto's seal had weakened or something but whatever it was Naruto was in danger.

He quickly ordered his team to start off in that direction looking for Naruto.

They ran into the forest looking for Naruto , although Sakura and Sasuke were wondering where that powerful chakra from coming from, they could feel it and it felt evil to them, then just as suddenly as it appeared the evil chakra was gone.

They broke off to search in different directions Sakura was worried for her friend and teammate after feeling that strange chakra just remembering it gave her chills and she was wondering what that missing nin had done to him and if that ninja had been the one to use that chakra.

"Naruto where are you? Are you okay?" she called out and began searching.

She quickly found the site of a battle, the trees and bushes and even the earth was damaged. She quickly looked around and nearly missed a bit of blonde hair sticking out from behind a tree.

"Naruto!" She yelled out running over to him she hoped that he was okay but what she didn't expect was the site she found. She froze in shock and horror at the scene, there was Naruto sitting by a tree looking at his hands they were covered in blood as well he had blood over his clothing too. His mask was ripped to shreds and she could see his face for the first time but she could see the haunted look on his face.

"N-Naruto are, are you okay?" she gently asked him but he didn't even react and then she saw the body of the ninja he had been fighting. She had already thrown up her stomach contents after her own first kill but this was much worse. The man's stomach was opened up like he had been eviscerated there was so much blood and all sorts of things from inside the man all over the place. She turned around and quickly fell to her knees covering her mouth as she started to dry heave.

"Naruto, Sakura are you over here?" Sasuke asked as he jumped onto the scene and he too froze at the site of Naruto's kill. He looked at the genin who looked shell shocked and he couldn't believe that Naruto had brutally killed a man like that he never knew that Naruto could be like that and from the looks of it Naruto didn't know it either.

When Kakashi got on the scene he knew that he had to help all his genin pick up the pieces the first kill was always the hardest and by the looks of it this day would live forever in them. He wished that they didn't have to experience such horror at a young age but he himself had seen this kind of death not much older than them. He would have to deal with them carefully and from the looks of it his son needed him more than ever now.

**Next up Chapter 29: Aftermath**

**Sorry for the long wait busy with life, but it's a bit longer than normal so I hope that evens it out.**


	29. Aftermath

**I put up a poll for what my next Naruto story will be about some won't be as long as this one others might be as long or even longer than this story, so vote there and not in the reviews since I can't put them in the poll for you. Although by the looks of it my next story so far will be a Naruto/Temari fic at this rate.**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Next up Chapter 29: Aftermath**

After the whole mess with the battle, Kakashi had them move to a river that they had passed a by on their patrol to clean up. He had the wash their clothing and themselves knowing that getting all the blood off would help. It was strangely silent through it all and he was wondering where he would start first. As a father he wanted to go to Naruto plus he seemed the worst off, Sakura was still a bit shaky from her ordeal although Sasuke's reaction was still troubling him. The boy was either hiding his emotions or he didn't feel much about killing and for a first kill that worried him.

Although the boy was used to seeing the dead after all finding you entire clan and family murdered did things to you. He just hoped that the boy wouldn't go down the path some took, some found it easier to kill off your emotions to be able to take this kind of work. At times he would agree that it helped but only to a degree, to totally kill off your emotions led you down a very dangerous path.

By nightfall they were all cleaned up but still the mood wasn't very good, it was too quiet in the camp. Sakura herself didn't feel like eating much, although she felt hungry she still couldn't stomach much food in her stomach thinking back to what happened. She still felt shaky after that battle but she was also worried about her team, Sasuke seemed more withdrawn then normal but what really worried her was Naruto. In all the years she had known him he had never been this quit in his life.

She sat next to him by the fire neither of them saying anything, she wanted to say something just anything to get her mind off today. She looked at his face and for the first time she saw his real face without the mask. It wasn't too bad, he wasn't overly handsome like Sasuke but he could be considered cute. What really surprised her was the black marks on his cheeks, they matched the markings on his mask which surprised her. She looked to Kakashi and wondered if this was a family trait and the reason why they wore masks.

Personally she found them kind of nice, and with that she thought she found at least something to talk about. "You know you look nice without the mask on Naruto, you should wear it less now and then."

Naruto just shrugged and she frowned.

"Naruto are...are you okay?" She asked him and she didn't see him react at all. So she went to stare into the fire with him, she was silent for a long moment before the memories were overwhelming her again.

"I can still see it you know...his blood on my hands I know he was going to kill me but...I...I just don't know how to deal with this. I'm thirteen and just killed a man and what's worse...we're going to have to do it again and again for the rest of our lives..."

She pulled her knees to her chest feeling the tears running down her face slowly, "I don't like killing, I know it's our job but still...I don't like it. I feel sick all the time and I feel, I feel like a monster or something..."

That last part was able to reach Naruto, he looked at the girl and for the first time it registered how much she was hurting over this. He had been lost in his own thoughts until the fact that she was thinking of herself as a monster got his attention. That wasn't something he thought of when he looked at one of his oldest friends, thinking _she _was the monster?

He was the one that felt like that, after all seeing what he had done to that ninja and remembering all the names that some people in the village called him made him feel more like that. She didn't have a demon locked up inside of her trying to get out, she didn't lose control and...ripped that guy apart. He looked at her shaking form and he inched a bit closer and put his arm around her, she jumped surprised by him.

"Sakura-chan you're not a monster...you're one of my closest of friends. Trust me you are nothing close to being one, that guy was going to kill you and you just did it. You feel sorry for him even though he wouldn't feel sorry for you. Trust me you're a better person than he was," he said to her gently.

She cracked a small smile and lowered her head a bit, "Thanks...but...I still see it when I close my eyes..."

"You always remember the first time you kill," both teens jumped at the new voice and Naruto pulled away from Sakura and turned around quickly to face his father.

"Damn it don't sneak up on people like that!" He shouted at him. He was actually glad he did shout being his usual loud self was a good sign, although as soon as it was over he went back to being depressed.

Kakashi sighed and sat down with his team, "There are no magic words or anything I can say to make you feel any better. It will get easier in the future but the trick is a balance, to kill only when needed and to never enjoy the killing. If you enjoy killing it leads to a very dark path for you, you will lose what it makes you human and deep down that's what we all are."

"Another is to still feel something, if you cut off your emotions to deal with this kind of thing you'll be empty inside. You'll just be existing and not really living anymore and that's not a life you should live." He cast a glace to Sasuke but the boy obviously wasn't listening to him. The man sighed shaking his head at that, maybe he would have a talk on the way back to the village.

Both Sakura and Naruto felt a bit better at that, although they still weren't sure what to think and feel at the moment.

Kakashi gave them one of his eye smiles, "Well I'm going to take a leek be right back."

That caused the two genin to face fall, once again just when Kakashi was saying something cool he ruins it at the last moment. As both of his students picked themselves up he slipped into the forest and quickly pulled out a small piece of note paper from his vest and started to write something. He folded it up and quickly summoned up his fastest dog. He bent down and gave the dog the note and told him who to give it to and to get there as quickly as possible. The summoned animal nodded his head and ran off into the night towards the village.

With that done he was about to get back to camp when he heard someone walking up behind him. Naruto came out of the darkness looking up at him, "dad...can we talk?"

"Anytime," he said finding a large stone to sit on and gestured for him to sit on a slightly smaller one next to him.

Naruto sat there not saying anything at the moment but Kakashi was patience and would let him say what was bothering him. It took him a moment until Naruto finally spoke up, "Dad...I think the Fox did something to me..."

Kakashi was worried about this and told him to lift his shirt and channel some chakra, he checked the seal and to him it looked okay. Although he wasn't a master of seals like his sensei had been or Jiraiya even but with his own skills he thought it looked good. He told Naruto this but it didn't seem to make him feel any less assured.

"Then why did I do that? I mean I was so angry and then...then...I can't really remember what happened," he told him. He looked at his hands and although the blood was finally gone he didn't feel very clean. He was wondering if he was really starting to become a monster like all those people said that he was. He was scared that the Fox would win out and eventually get out, or take him over and make him do horrible things.

"Dad I don't like this I mean yeah I knew this would happen, but was that really me?" He asked.

"Naruto I know you, I raised you but let me tell you this you are a good kid. But I felt that chakra and it was the Fox's, now I don't know everything but I think you were drawing on its chakra by accident. Tell me what exactly were you feeling and how did it make you feel when you were using it?"

Naruto thought hard about it, "Angry, I was really angry. I mean the things the guys said just made me really mad and then...I just started to feel really angry. I can't remember being that angry before and I also felt..."

"Go on, you felt what?"

"Powerful, like nothing else really matter. Like he was nothing and that I should destroy him, I wanted to hurt him and make him suffer. I felt this rush of power and...it...it felt good."

Naruto didn't like saying it but it was honestly how he felt, he had never felt so powerful before, so free and it scared him. He had no control and he had seen the results of what had happened as well. He was scared of losing himself to that kind of power again, and what if he hurt someone close to him? He couldn't live with the fact that he had hurt someone close to him. It was all because of that damn Fox that his life was so hard. He could still vaguely remember that day he had been kidnapped and nearly killed, then there were the kids that picked on him, the adults that gave him cold looks. There just seemed to be no end to the problems that this thing caused him.

He was lost in his thoughts until he felt a strong hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his dad.

"Naruto you are stronger than this thing, there is a reason why it was placed in you. You're biological father wanted you to be seen as a hero, the one that kept us all safe from the Kyuubi. It's because of you that the village still lives and never doubt for a second that you're not that strong."

"I've always been proud of you son and as long as you never give up you'll always win against the Fox. And if you ever need any help you know that I'll be here for you too."

Naruto smiled up at him, "Dad...thanks."

Kakashi smiled back down at him and ruffled his hair, "Hey what's a father for?"

**-Two Days Later-**

In the Team 8 training field Kurenai was looking over her team as they did a group training exercise. They wore a different coloured bandana on their arms and every now and then she would call out the colour. That person was the 'enemy' that they would attack but at any moment she randomly chose someone else to be the enemy for this. Currently Kiba as the enemy as Hinata and Shino were attacking him, of course Akamaru was with Kiba so it helped to even the odds. There were also some restrictions such as Shino couldn't drain everyone's chakra totally and Hinata couldn't close everyone chakra down either only parts of it.

She was proud of how well they were improving, they were really coming along as a team. With some more training they could even be ready for the chunin exams at this point. That was still months away but when it would come to the village she wanted her team to be ready for it. What the genins didn't know was that the jonin sensei's had a slight bet going on how many of them could get their teams ready for the next exams.

Kurenai was brought out of her thoughts as she heard something running towards them. She looked to find a dog running at them at full speed it seemed. Although as soon as the dog saw her it quickly changed course to go directly towards her, she was wondering if this was something from Kiba's clan after all it wasn't the first time one of their dogs came with a message for Kiba. The dog stopped panting hard as it dropped something at her feet.

She bent down to pick up a note that was addressed to her as soon as the dog saw that she got it he decided that he no longer needed to stick around and went back to the summoning world. Kurenai raised an eyebrow at that, she hadn't known that it was a summons and as far as she knew only one man could summon dogs. She opened the letter and sure enough it was from Kakashi. She read on and although she had known it wouldn't be good news she didn't like what she was reading. It was lucky that her own team hadn't gone through the first kill that was something she wasn't looking forward with dealing.

The request was mainly if she could have Hinata go with Naruto, apparently he thought that she could help him through this in a way he couldn't. He also asked if she could get in touch with Asuma and get Ino talking with Sakura as well. That was pretty much it other than to pass on what happened to the Hokage and that they were on their return journey and would be back in a few days. She hoped that his team would be alright and she could already see her students looking at her wondering what was going on.

"I didn't say to stop, Green is the enemy, go!" She commanded and they jumped back into action.

She would have to have a word with Hinata after training but she was also wondering just how much she should tell her. She knew of the girl's feelings for him anyone with eyes could see that. Well most she was wondering why Naruto was so oblivious to it, at any rate she would just tell her that Naruto had a rough mission and could use someone to talk to. She would have to track down Asuma but that wasn't too hard he usually hung out in certain areas.

She had to smile a little at an excuse to see him, although the only person that knew that she liked the man was Anko she wasn't sure how to act. She had spent so many years on her career as a ninja that she hardly had the time for dates, sure there had been the odd one here and there but nothing meaningful. Asuma however wasn't like most guys, he was caring and didn't look at her as some kind of sex object.

Plus she will admit he had been kind of a rebel and bad boy back in the day with how he left to join the Twelve Guardians against his father's wishes. She had a crush back on him during that period and when he left she felt a bit empty but she moved on. Or at least she thought she had until he came back and he was more mature now but he still had that devil may care attitude and to her he was sexy too. It only she could get him to give up smoking but it seemed to be a family addiction.

At any rate she put the note away and went back to watching her student train, after they were done she would give them the rest of the day off after pulling aside Hinata for a talk.

**-A few days later-**

Team 7 had finally made it back home it had been a rough few days for the team. Sakura and Naruto hadn't slept well for the first night. It got better each day but still it was something Kakashi knew they would have to live with. Sasuke was still being distant and it was hard to see just what was going through the boy's mind. He internally sighed hoping that Kurenai got his message, that way at least two members of his team would have some support. But Sasuke was another problem, the boy just didn't have any friends as he had pushed everyone away.

Kakashi knew why, it was to prevent anyone forming bonds with him so when those bonds were cut they couldn't hurt him again. He had been like that after his father's death but still his old team reached out to him. He kept trying to reach the boy but it was hard, the boy was really stubborn even more so than he had been. He guessed it was that Uchiha pride of his that kept asking people for help for anything. He needed to think of a way to break the boy out of that line of thought.

Naruto had managed to find one of his spare masks that he brought with him and put it back on after that first night. Sakura kept trying to tell him that he didn't need it but he was vocal about why it was tradition. It was good to see them getting back to normal at least.

When they got to the main gates he could already feel the team's mood lighten as they knew they were finally home. "Well I'm going to make a full report on things, you all go home and take tomorrow off. You all did great work and just relax we'll pick up things later at the training field at the usual time in two days."

With that Kakashi vanished in a poof of smoke, Sasuke shrugged and walked back to his home leaving the other two behind. Naruto and Sakura said their goodbyes and went on their separate ways home. Naruto dropped his stuff at his house but he just didn't want to sit around, he still have a lot to think about so he decided to go to the place where he did all his deep thinking.

For times like this he went to one of his favourite places the top of the Fourth's head on the mountain. At first he never knew why he felt drawn to the Fourth but after Kakashi told him about his past it made for a lot of sense. His biological father had been a great man and had sacrificed himself to save the village. He had been a great hero and someone that he wanted to not only become but be even greater than. Although at the moment he didn't feel much like a hero, when you read about those great battles they never mentioned just how nasty things got. There was so much they never told you about how real combat is like, it's nothing like in the books which made it seem so clean. But it wasn't clean, it's the opposite and he was left wondering if the Fourth felt like he was at this moment.

While he was sitting there thinking he hadn't noticed a small girl his own age had just managed to get up to the mountain top. Hinata had been looking for Naruto all over the village, she had missed him at the gate so she went on a search of all his usual places. After Kurenai told her that something happened and that she should go talk with Naruto she had been waiting for the day for him to get back.

So she had started looking for him at the places and people that would know where he might be. First she checked with Konohamaru but he hadn't seen him at all, so she checked the ramen stand and he wasn't there either. This was starting to worry her, if something was bothering him he tried to eat them away, if they were really bad he went to train to blow off steam. So she check the training area that he used but still no sign. Now she was really getting worried.

Only when things got really bad for him did he go to the one place where most people didn't know about. She knew about it from him taking her there once as kids telling her it was a secret spot that he liked to go to. So she looked up at the Hokage Monument and with her eyes she was able to see a small form sitting on top of it. She went quickly as she could up the mountain path and she was finally able to see him now.

But she stopped when she looked at him, he looked so...defeated. His eyes looked unfocused and lost and in so much pain. She couldn't remember ever seeing Naruto like this, it just seemed wrong for him to be like this like it was totally against nature for him to be this way. Just looking at him like this filled her heart with pain at how much he looked to be silently suffering. She felt tears in her eyes at just the sight of him and so without thinking she just acted.

Naruto was silently staring out across the village until he felt a pair of slim arms hug him from behind. He felt the weight of Hinata against his back and she seemed to be shaking. It wasn't until he felt the water on his cheek that he realized that she was crying. He didn't like to see her cry, she was the best person he knew and seeing her cry was just heart breaking.

"Hinata-chan?"

"N-Naruto-Kun why won't you let me h-help? You always a-are there f-for me, you w-were there for me when my m-mother died w-when I was in pain. P-please N-Naruto-kun let me help you for once." She begged him hugging him hard. He had been her source of inspiration and happiness for as long as she could remember.

He was always a source of happiness for not only her but others around her, he was like sunshine and she loved how his blue eyes held what seemed like an eternal warmth, happiness with a hint of mischief in them. But now his eyes held nothing but sorrow and pain and she didn't like to see that kind of look in them. She hated seeing him in pain and she wanted to comfort him for once and take away his pain and suffering like he did with her.

Naruto felt the warmth of her body and strangely it felt nice, he closed his eyes just embracing the feeling that was washing over him. He just felt better in her arms for some reason, he felt warmer and he didn't want it to end. He hadn't felt this way since he was a kid and he had been scared and then his dad would always be there to make him feel safe again.

Naruto didn't know what to say but he also didn't like to see her cry, he twisted around and hugged her back giving back what he was getting. Hinata seemed to hug him even closer as she felt his arms around her, it seemed natural the way they were holding each other like this. Normally such contact would send her blushing bright red and most likely faint but she couldn't do that now, Naruto needed her and she would be there for him.

"Tell me what happened," she asked him.

Naruto told her everything that he could, he skipped the part about the Kyuubi for now, he didn't want to burden her with that information. So he went into the battle and how he had been forced to kill that man. He also told her that it had been the same one that tried to kidnap her years ago. She was shocked to learn this, she still thought about that night now and then but now that man was dead. It just seemed that man did nothing but hurt her and Naruto.

After he was done she spoke to him, "N-Naruto-kun you did nothing wrong. Y-You're a good person, y-you've always been one of the k-kindness people I-I've known. The f-fact that you feel bad proves that y-you're a good person b-because he wouldn't h-have. I know you, and I-I know that deep down, you are good n-no matter what anyone says you are."

Naruto smiled as his head was resting on her shoulder listening to her. He felt bad as he still kept secrets from her like his real parents and the demon locked up inside of him. He hated himself that she trusted him so much and yet he was afraid to tell her the truth. _'Maybe you don't know me as well as you think Hinata but...you are one of my most precious people. You really do believe in me it seems, so I don't want to let you down.'_

"Hinata-chan...thank you." He whispered into her ear.

She smiled blushing a bit now feeling his breath touch her eat like that, she was glad that she could help him out. Unfortunately that was also the point when she realized that she was in fact holding Naruto right up against her. He was pressing his body against hers and she could feel the hot breath coming off him against her neck. She had just acted without really thinking but now that her brain had finally caught up to what was going on...

"Eep."

Naruto heard the sound and blinked a few times as Hinata suddenly went slack. He gently pulled her away and noticed how loose she was, he saw her face was still bright red but with a happy, dazed expression on it.

"Hinata! Hinata wake up! Oh man why does this keep happening!?" Naruto yelled out frantically trying to wake the poor girl up.

Meanwhile in another part of the village, Sakura was just sitting by the bridge that her team passed to get to their training field. She liked the place it was beautiful and peaceful place. The was leaning against one of the railings of the red little bridge just watching the gentle water or the small river move under her. She just listened to the gentle sounds as the warmth of the sun hit her body. She needed something to calm her after that mission, she just closed her eyes and took in everything that she could. She could feel the gentle wind move across her skin and face, the heat of the sun's rays, she could smell the scene of flowers on the river bank and the sounds of animals in the trees not to far away.

She let her mind just clear and to find some kind of inner peace with herself.

"Hey Sakura!" yelled a familiar voice.

Sakura was so shocked she nearly fell over, _'So much for inner peace with her around.'_

'**Damn it things were going so good too! Ino-pig better have a good excuse or else, shannaro!' And** angry Inner Sakura said in her mind rising a fist in Ino's direction.

Sakura turned to her best friend, "Hey Ino what's up?"

Ino walked over to the pink haired girl, she had been told something had happened during the mission she had been on. She wasn't sure what since Asuma just told her that she should at least go and see if she was okay. Looking at her now, she could see that Sakura looked a little worse for wear. Her hair was a little unkempt and there was signs of dark circles starting to show up under her eyes. She looked tired and Ino had to wonder what had happened.

"Hey there Forehead, can't a girl hang with her friend?" Ino said smiling brightly at her.

Sakura sighed and turned to face the river, "Sorry but I'm not up to it, I just want to be alone."

Ino didn't listen though as she just leaned against the railing next to her. Sakura didn't say anything so Ino just started going on about her day, work at the flower shop, training with her team, the D rank missions she had been on and hated. How she had to keep motivating Shikamaru to get off his lazy ass and do some work now and then. Sakura tried to ignore her but Ino just kept on going making a vein start to show up on the pink haired girls' head.

"Ino!"

"Yes?" She said innocently.

"What will it take for you to go away?"

Ino smirked knowing full well that she would break sooner or later, "Easy...Tell what happened."

Sakura bit her lip not wanting to say anything, but Ino started up again so she had to stop her and then tell her everything. It was hard to go through what happened, how she felt when she had killed that bandit. She looked down at her hands by the end of it and noticed that her hands were shaking.

She looked at them, at the hands that blood on them only a few days ago. She could still remember how it felt and she felt slightly sick to her stomach at that moment. But just when she thought she was going to lose it, she watched a pair of slender hands take hers and the shaking slowly started to stop. She slowly looked up the arms to the face of Ino and she would see the worry in them.

Ino had never seen Sakura this shaken up before, "Hey it's okay."

"I'm not so sure it is," Sakura said quietly looking down. "I don't know if I'm strong enough."

"Hey that's not the Sakura I know," Ino told her. "I remember when you used to be the shy girl that had trouble even speaking. You haven't been like that in years, you're stronger person then you used to be and I know for a fact that you won't let yourself become weak. You're one of the strongest people I know and you're going to beat this."

"We came too far to be stopped and we're just starting out our lives as ninjas. I know this isn't easy but you don't have to do this alone, you got me and all your friends to lean on. So if you ever need to talk you can at least come to me. Now how about we just go out and enjoy the fact your back and safe?"

"Are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"No we got the day off," the pink haired girl said.

"Good, there's this cute little dress I think you'd like for sale, and then we can go get something to eat and just hang out. We can make it a girl's day out what do you say?"

Sakura had to manage a small smile, "Ino...thanks."

Ino smiled, "No problem, just promise me something."

"Okay what?"

Ino's face got a bit more serious, "When this happens so me...be there for me too will you?"

Sakura nodded her head, "Of course it's what best friends are for right?"

**Next up chapter 30: Day Off**

**Well I wasn't totally happy with this chapter but it's the best I can do. Hey not all chapters are perfect I just hope you enjoy it. Anyways next chapter will be more fun and fluff.**


	30. Day Off

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 30: Day Off**

It was a normal morning for Konoha and in Naruto's room he was slowly waking up. He groaned as he felt himself waking up, he prided open an eye and looked at the clock on by his bed. It was nine in the morning and he was surprised at how long he had slept in, he remembered that he was going to see Hinata today. As he got up and started to stretch out he remembered her at the monument and him taking her home again. He was a bit embarrassed carrying the Hyuga heiress on his back, but he was glad to do it. Thankfully she woke up before he reached the main gates and they made plans to meet up today since she seemed to have gotten the day off as well.

He felt a bit better than he had the past few days, he was still slightly scared of what could happen if he called on that Fox's chakra again but he would deal with that later. He did his usual morning rituals before getting dressed. He checked the time and he didn't feel like making breakfast so he'd stop by the ramen stand before going to Hinata's.

"Yo, Naruto how are you feeling?"

Naruto looked to see his dad on the couch reading one of his books again.

"Hey dad, feeling a bit better to be honest."

Kakashi nodded, "Glad to hear it, so what's up for today?"

"I'm going to see Hinata-chan today and we're going to hang out. We haven't been able to do like we used to when we were in the academy." Naruto told him.

"Alright, oh by the way I'll be cashing in the payments for the missions and handing them out to the team. I'll place it on your dresser when I get it, you should also know that the mission was bumped up to a B ranked because of the ninjas we faced." Kakashi told his son.

Naruto nodded his head and they said their goodbyes as he left to get to Hinata's home. It was kind of cool that the mission was now officially a B rank, normally he'd be excited about that but he didn't feel too excited about that mission. He was still thinking about what happened and what he was really worried about was the damn fox inside of him. If this is what happened every time he got really angry then it would mean he would have to control his anger.

Which he admits is hard for him since he lashes out far too often but he couldn't help it that was just the way he was. At any rate he just wanted to put his problems behind him for the moment and just enjoy the day with Hinata. He quickly stopped off at the ramen stand for a few bowls and had a nice chat with Ayame and her father there, it was one of the reason he loved that stand. It had both great food with great people to talk to while there, after that he made his way to the Hyuga clan compound.

Naruto went in through the front without a problem as he was well known among the Hyuga clan and went in search of Hinata. He was wondering if he would be able to see Neji there if he wasn't with his team today, he wanted to ask him if Lee was up for a rematch at some point.

He didn't see him as he walked through the grounds so he guessed he could always have Hinata tell him later. He found her in the garden area with Hanabi as they were sitting and talking, he yelled out to them and Hanabi smiled at seeing him. Hinata blushed as usual giving him a weak wave as he walked over to them.

"So how are my favourite Hyuga girls?" Naruto asked happily.

"We're the only Hyuga girls you know personally Naruto-niisan," Hanabi stated.

"Aww why did you have to be so cold Hanabi-chan?" Naruto said in an exaggerated display of being hurt. Hinata giggled at this theatrics hiding her smile behind her hands.

"See Hinata can at least knows when to have fun," he said.

"I know how to have fun," Hanabi said crossing her arms and giving him a hard look. "Besides when my sister told me you two had a free day I was hoping you'd want to join me and Konohamaru today."

Naruto thought about it, he hadn't seen the Old Man's grandson since he left on his mission. The boy was kind of like a little brother to him and he wouldn't mind seeing him again. He then got a sly smile on his face as an idea popped into his head.

"Oh so we're off to see Konohamaru then? Didn't know you liked boys yet man you're aftera boyfriend already you really work fast Hanabi-chan."

Hanabi looked both mortified and embarrassed. "I-I-I'm only eight years old! I don't like boys like that he's just my only friend outside of the clan!"

Naruto burst out laughing at the look on her face it had been priceless.

"N-Naruto-kun that was mean t-to Hinabi-chan!" Hinata scolded him for being mean to her little sister.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Hanabi gave him a small glare telling him that she would get even with him at some point, but that would have to be later. One of the reasons she wanted them to come was so that her and Konohamaru could work on Hinata and Naruto while they were all together. After that the small group decided they would go and meet Konohamaru at the park since he would be getting there pretty soon.

It took them awhile to get to the park but when they got there they found Konohamaru waiting there for them. He was happy to see Naruto and the Hyuga sisters as well. Hanabi and Konohamaru started to play on the equipment a bit while Naruto and Hinata had a nice talk. Mainly just to catch up with what they had been doing since the last time they really got to see another. He was glad to hear that Hinata was doing fine with her team and she really liked her sensei. Naruto had met Kurenai a few times thanks to his dad and the fact she was Anko's best friend too.

"Oh yeah she always seemed really nice," Naruto nodded his head.

Hinata smiled and nodded too, "Y-yes she's been great. S-she's so kind, gentle but also gets s-serious when she has to be. Sometimes..."

"Sometimes what?"

"She kind of reminds me...o-of my mom," Hinata said.

Hinata fell silent at that remembering the death of her mother always hurt, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see Naruto there. He had his hand on her shoulder giving it a little squeeze and a comforting look to tell her she wasn't alone. She was glad for it and gave him a small smile to let him know that she was okay.

"Hey aren't you two going to play too or make eyes at each other all day?" Konohamaru yelled out making both young teens blush and pull apart.

"It's nothing like that we were just talking!" Naruto shouted out glad the mask hid a blush.

"W-We shouldn't ignore them N-Naruto-kun, w-why don't we join them?" Hinata said trying to get their minds off that.

"Yeah you're right that's why we came here right?" he asked smiling at her with his eyes closed like normal.

They started to play together, normally they either played all together or they would be split into two teams. Usually they were the girls against the boys or two older kids against the two youngest. But Naruto didn't care at all, for the moment he was just a young teen enjoying his life with his friends and that's all that mattered to him. After that mission this was the best kind of thing he could do, something that reminded him that there was still plenty of good things in the world.

They played several games together, laughing and enjoying things. The group also showed Konohamaru a few games as well one of them was captured princess. Mainly one person acted as the princess that you had to save. For this game Hinata got that, while Hanabi and Konohamaru had to tag Naruto in order to defeat him. The two kids tried their best but Naruto was great at moving to avoid people when he had to. So he managed to avoid the two kids as best he could and quickly made over to where Hinata was by a tree.

"Got ya," Naruto said as he took Hinata by the hand as that signalled that she was now safe. He had to admit it felt kind of good to play this old game again. It reminded him of when they were younger and things had been simpler.

Konohamaru walked up as he was grinning under his scarf covering his lower face. He had an idea and he hoped that Hanabi would catch on to what he had planned to help get Naruto and Hinata together. "Hey isn't the hero supposed to get a kiss from the girl when he saves her?"

Both young teens blushed at this, Hinata more so of course.

"Huh!? I-I can't do that!" Naruto blurted out. Hinata's face looked to the ground feeling depressed that he quickly said such a thing with her right there.

Hanabi did in fact catch on and schooled her face to not let it show, "What, are you saying my sister isn't pretty enough to kiss?"

"No! I mean she is one of the pretties girls from the academy," Naruto said suddenly realizing that Hinata might have taken it as an insult. He only meant it, as she was his best friend and he thought that she would be too weirded out by that. He had seen her face fall and remembered the few tips his dad gave him about girls and their moods. Girls like to be complimented and he had done the exact opposite.

Hinata's head shot up in surprised that he called her pretty. She hadn't thought that he would say such a thing about her as she thought she was just kind of plain.

'_Naruto thinks I'm pretty? But why would he think that? Ino has better hair and Sakura is so sure of herself. But he things I'm one of the prettiest girls from school?'_ Her face grew warm at the thought of Naruto looking at her as a beautiful girl.

Konohamaru meanwhile was glad that Hanabi was catching on fast and now it was time to really put Naruto on the spot.

"Well if you think she's pretty then give her a kiss then, unless that rumour about you and the Uchiha guy was true," he said off handed. He grinned seeing Naruto's expression, he had learned about that kiss incident from Hanabi one day and he laughed his ass off at it. Apparently Hinata had come home looking all depressed and since Hanabi and her were close she had told her little sister what happened.

Naruto was both embarrassed and pissed, would that damn thing haunt him for the rest of his life? It had been an accident and now Konohamaru was calling him out on his sexuality? He wouldn't stand for that, he liked girls. Hell he read his dad's books when he could, and he noticed girls all the time.

"It's not true Naruto-nii-san?" Hanabi said innocently further making Naruto angry. "If it is then I think I know of a third removed cousin and I think he would think you are pretty cute if you like boys that much.

"I'm not gay! I like girls!" Naruto shouted out not caring how that sounded to anyone listening.

"Prove it then," both young kids said to him.

"Fine I will!" And without even thinking he turned and gave Hinata a kiss on the cheek. Sure his mask was one and it was more of a chase kiss but the effect on Hinata was immediate.

She turned whole new shades of red as her eyes widened to the size of saucers. She was frozen stiff as her mind was trying to process what just happened but only one thought was repeating in her brain.

'_Naruto kissed me, Naruto kissed me, Naruto kissed me! NARUTO KISSED ME!!'_ Hinata's mind was screaming out in joy. Sure it wasn't some deeply romantic moonlight kiss on the lips like she had dreamed of many times. But still his lips had touched her face and it was the best she ever thought that she could have hoped for in real life.

"Uh no not again," Naruto said seeing Hinata get all red in the face. She looked really dazed and she was starting to rock back and forth until she fell. Thankfully he was there to catch her but he really wished he knew why she kept fainting. Every time he asked she just stuttered so much he couldn't understand. He was thinking of taking her to the hospital to see if they could find out what was wrong with her but every time he brought it up she kept telling him it was nothing to worry about.

So he just signed and gently placed her on the ground wondering why she had such a huge smile on her face.

Konohamaru and Hanabi gave each other amused looks.

"Well so far that was a good first step but is she going to be okay?" he whispered to her.

Hanabi nodded, "Yeah this is normal for her. Now we just have to get them to spend more time with each other but she needs to be more confident if she's ever going to tell him how she feels."

"Yeah and he doesn't know that she likes him, why doesn't anyone just tell him?" he asked. She shrugged saying that Hinata had asked many people not to tell him because she was too embarrassed and wanted to do it herself. Although like she had already said she was too shy to do so.

Konohamaru made a sour face, "are all relationships like this?"

Hanabi shrugged not sure herself, she hoped not. If she ever liked a boy she planned to just tell him to his face and deal with the after effects.

"Maybe we can work on them separately, I could try and get him to notice her if you think you can get her to actually say what she feels," he suggested.

"Good plan." She nodded her head as she looked at her sister. At this rate she was going to have to start carrying smelling salts on her from now on.

**-Uchiha Compound-**

Sasuke was in the training yard of his compound that he used since he was a kid. He could have moved out of the house at any time, after all it was filled with the ghosts of the past. But he needed to be reminded of what his brother had done to his clan, to their family. After the compound had been cleaned up by order of the Hokage, Sasuke had taken up residence in his old room again. It was hard to sleep that whole first month, he kept expecting his brother to come back and finish the job but he never did come back. Eventually he got used to the quiet of the place and it became a refuge for him.

He was sick and tired of all the praises he got in the academy, or all those stupid fan girls that just wanted him because of his statues as the last of a noble clan. They had this noble idea of him as some wounded soul that needed to be healed or something foolish like that. Of course he was in pain but he needed that pain to help him push himself.

He could care less about what people thought of him, it was mostly just empty praise anyway. He didn't see why just because he was the last of his clan that he should get so much attention, when he just wanted to be left alone. So he came home most of the time to just get away from it all. No one really cared anyway, most just wanted to be close to The Uchiha like they actually wanted to know him. That was a truth he learned at a very young age, that no one really wanted to know the real him. So he pushed all that fake admiration, attention and all that other stuff away.

He didn't need illusions like that in his life, so he was spending his day training. He was by the lake trying out the new fire techniques that Kakashi gave him, although he had a natural affinity with fire it was still taking time to learn them. He wanted to totally focus on this because he knew that Naruto wouldn't be too far behind. He actually had to smirk at that thought he had been the only one that managed to push him further along in life. Sure he thought of Naruto as a loud mouth fool that sometimes didn't take things as seriously but at times he had his moments.

He was still surprised at how Naruto had dealt with that ninja on the mission, he never pictured the blonde would be able to do something like that. Plus there was that huge chakra signature as well, there were so many mysteries surrounding the Hatake family. Why they wore the masks, the strange way Naruto seemed to have such a huge chakra supply and the way he healed. Sakura hadn't noticed but he had noticed on the way back that Naruto seemed to heal from his injuries pretty quick.

There was also Kakashi's eye, he was finally able to get their sensei to explain why he had a Sharingan eye. Only the man simply said that his teammate who was dying gave it to him because he had lost one of his. To Sasuke it seemed inconceivable that an Uchiha would give up even one eye to a non-clan member. It was pretty much unheard of when he looked up information in his family history. He had seen a name crossed out that existed several decades ago in all the history. It seemed that whoever that Uchiha was his clan had wiped out his history as though the man never existed.

It seemed a harsh thing to do, even if it went against the clan's rules to wipe out someone's existence like that was a cruel fate.

At any rate Sasuke went back to his practicing trying to get the new move down. He made the hand seals and focused on the chakra in his lungs and shouted out, "Fire Style; Dragon Missile!" With that a flaming dragon came out of his mouth and flew over the lake. It made it about fifteen feet before it lost too much chakra and faded away. He stood there panting for breath feeling his mouth dry from the effort.

"Not bad, a little more practice and you'll start to get the hang of it."

Sasuke quickly turned around to see Kakashi there standing behind him. His body was in a lazy position although his face looked interested in him.

"Although you really should have a bottle or water or something when training with that kind of fire jutsu to prevent dehydration, also be careful of your chakra level. If you use too much you'll just collapse right there and it could take a very long time for someone to find you here." He said digging out a small purse. He handed it to him and told him about the change in mission and pay. He had already stopped by the Haruno house and given it to Sakura's parents. They were nice enough people and it seemed his other genin was out with Ino. He was glad that Asuma gave the young girl time off to help out Sakura.

Sasuke placed the small pouch on the ground and nodded as he went back to the end of the dock.

Kakashi knew that the boy wouldn't open up unless you force the issue, he was never good at subtly with this kind of thing anyway. "Sasuke I wanted to know how you're dealing with the last mission. The first kill isn't always something a person can handle well at first."

"I'm fine."

"That's what has me worried," Kakashi said seriously. "You act like it doesn't effect you at all and that's very worrying."

"She was an enemy and was trying to kill me," he said simply. "I only did what I did to survive."

Kakashi sighed, "That's true but I think you're on a fine line here. Enjoying killing makes you into someone that attacks anyone just for the thrill of it. Those types of enemies are like rabid dogs who are a danger to everyone. But with being so emotionless about it, you can actually be even more dangerous. Those types are cold and methodical, they rarely make mistakes and are very patient."

"How is that more dangerous?"

Kakashi decided to hit home with the boy he knew it was low but he needed a wake up call, "Because that's how Itachi is."

Sasuke turned around furious at him for bringing up his brother and what was worse he insinuating that he was anything like his brother was taking things too far. "I'm nothing like him!"

"Both child prodigies, both want to become stronger and you both don't seem to care much about killing. You're starting to sound a lot like him but don't get angry at me if you can't help but face the truth. I know you want to kill him and I can't blame you. I know what it's like to have those close to you taken from you. I've lost nearly everyone that I care for with the exception of a handful of people."

Kakashi looked over the water as Sasuke mulled over his words.

"Sasuke you're on a dangerous path, you have such great potential but I'm worried where your drive will take you. You could very well end up becoming what you hate and even if you do kill him then what? If all you have in your life is hate then you'll be left with nothing when it's over. You're entire life's work will have ended before you actually started to live your life."

Sasuke looked away as he looked over the water as well. He vowed to kill Itachi for what he did, nothing could stop that. But why was this man trying so hard to make sure he didn't end up like him? Why would he care what happens to him?

"Why do you care?" Sasuke said bluntly.

Kakashi shrugged, "maybe it's because you remind me of how I used to be at your age and I don't want you to make the same mistakes I made."

Sasuke was now surprised the fact that Kakashi claimed to be anything like him at his age was laughable.

"Hey it's true. I used to be a strictly by the book ninja, never late and always serious. I was called a genius too but I never cared about that only my skills." He said smiling at the boy. "But then one day I lost someone who I found that I viewed as not only my best friend but as a brother I never had. When I lost him everything started to change."

Sasuke thought about who it was, "It was the Uchiha that gave you the eye wasn't it?"

Kakashi nodded his head.

"I can't find any record of his name in my family records it was like they wanted to erase his memory." He then noticed a slightly angry look in the man's eye. He had never really seen the man angry but his whole body subtly changed and for a second he felt all the stories he looked into about him were all very true.

"He deserves to be remembered," Kakashi said in a tone that you could hear a suppressed fury in them. " His name was Obito Uchiha and although he wasn't the normal type of Uchiha he was someone special, someone that comes around only once in a generation I feel. People like him are very rare but I'm glad that I met him."

"How did it happen?" Sasuke asked wanting to know more about this mysterious Uchiha.

Kakashi sighed as he looked slightly depressed as he started to recall old memories. "It was on a mission, our teammate Rin was captured and I wanted to go on and finish the mission without her. He told me he was going back, he was the one that came up with the phrase 'A ninja who doesn't follow the rules is trash but a ninja that turns his backs on his friends is worse than trash'."

"I still went on but I later turned around feeling his words echo in my mind. When I caught up there were a lot of things going on I won't go into detail. There was a battle, we got Rin, I lost my eye and then that fool had to go and be noble and sacrifice himself so we could live. Half his body was crushed and I was there when he died. With his dying breath he asked Rin to put his eye in me."

Kakashi was silent for a long time remembering his old team, "I lost him...then a few months later I lost Rin when she was on a mission and she never came back. Then I lost my sensei who was like a second father to me. For a moment I had lost everyone in my life and I had no one left but then one bright moment came and that was Naruto. For the longest time he's kept me strong and that's were true strength comes from, Sasuke."

"It comes from the bonds you form, you're stronger because you fight for someone else and not just for yourself. Like how you want to avenger your clan but are you doing it for them or for yourself? You'll be stronger if you fight in their memory and not for your revenge."

Kakashi and Sasuke stood there alone silently as they watched the sun started to lower itself. He felt that he had said enough and went to turn to get back home to Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke said to him not looking away from the lake. "Can...can you tell me more about this Obito sometime?"

"Why is that?" Kakashi asked.

"Because he was of my clan and if I am to fight in their memory, then I should remember him too." Sasuke said.

For a moment Kakashi felt his heart swell at that, he always went to the memorial stone so that Obito's memory would never be forgotten as long as he lived. But now for the first time in a long time a member of his clan would know of him and remember him as well. What had been done to him was in injustice and this was a small way to ensure that Obito's memory lived on back in the clan.

"Sure thing, I have lots of stories about the most unique Uchiha that most likely ever lived." Kakashi smiled before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

**Next up chapter 31: Getting Stronger**


	31. Getting Stronger

**AN; Well looks like the Tamari/Naruto fic won out so that will be my next one whenever I get the time, I think I'll make it M just to be on the save side. I think the Sakura/Naruto time travel one was next and then the Sasume/Sakura/Naruto story after that. Then I'll just see how things go from there.**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 31: Getting Stronger**

It was after the day off and Team 7 was back at their training grounds, the team looked better after a day to unwind. Sakura had spent the entire day with Ino and it was good to just hang out with her best friend, and her reaction to the fact that she saw Naruto's real face was still funny. Sasuke seemed to be not so distance and Naruto seemed to be back to his older self as well. Of course they were now waiting for Kakashi to show up as usual.

"Naruto do you have any idea where sensei is?" Sakura asked as they waited.

"As if I'd know, all I know is that he said he needed to get something for us and get a little help for the next step in training, whatever that means." He shrugged.

So they went back to waiting around for Kakashi to show up wondering how late he would be today. Thankfully it seemed that he was only an hour late today when he suddenly showed up in a puff of smoke.

"They here, sorry I'm late but I had to pick something up and get someone's help for today." He said from his place on a branch overhead.

"Lair!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at him.

"No it's the truth," he said as it was for once. He jumped down and pull out a box. "Now all we have to do is wait for who I asked to help with your training."

"Help with our training?" Sasuke asked him wondering where the man was going with this.

Kakashi nodded, "yes the last mission made me think that you all need a bit more training. So I thought of something special on the way back. We're going to start with weapons training and elemental jutsu training for the next week."

"Alright this sounds awesome!" Naruto yelled out. "So who did you ask for help dad? Anyone we know?"

Kakashi chuckled, "oh you can say that."

"So when is this person going to get here?" Sasuke asked with his arms crossed. The last thing this team needed was someone else that was conically late. However he was still thinking about his talk earlier with Kakashi. He had been thinking about this Obito Uchiha and what kind of person he had been like to give up one of his eyes, even on death. Such a thing was unheard of as like with the Hyuga's his clan guarded their eyes fiercely.

He looked at his team as they were talking, Naruto was trying to guess at who it was that was coming and Kakashi kept smiling behind his mask. Sakura was there silently wondering what was going on as well. He thought if he was in Obito's position would he sacrifice himself for any of them? It would mean that his goal to avenge his clan would end if he did. He was also thought if he was dying if he could trust any of them with his eyes like that man had.

It still was just surreal to think of an Uchiha capable of that.

"Hey there!"

Sasuke looked up in time to see a woman in a trench coat, ninja chainmail shirt, miniskirt, who also had purple hair tied up top of her head. She landed with a bundle under her arm close to the team.

"Aunty Anko!" Naruto yelled out happily.

"Hey there brat how's it going?" Anko smiled at him.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this, he never knew there was an aunt in the family but then why didn't she wear a mask too? Was it only the men that wore that? He looked around and saw Sakura looking slightly nervous and then he remembered that she had been closer to Naruto for years. It was obvious that she knew the woman. As she was talking with Naruto he moved closer to the pink haired girl.

"Sakura, you know this woman?"

Sakura jumped at being addressed by Sasuke but she smiled at him blushing slightly, "Uh yeah that's Anko, I met her at Naruto's birthday parties."

"She's his aunt?"

"Well...not really," Sakura went in to explain how Anko wasn't actually a relative of the Hatake family, she was a good friend of the family. Naruto just liked to give adults certain titles, the Hokage was the Old Man, Anko was his aunt, and Gai was his uncle. Sasuke went to ask who Gai was but she told him quickly that he didn't want to know.

Sakura had good reason to be nervous around the woman, she was creepy. She had this smile that put you on edge and the fact the first time she showed up at the first birthday party she and the rest had gone to had been a day she never forgot. They had all been there as it was the first time they had celebrated Naruto's birthday, the house was pretty large for just the two of them. The yard had been huge so the party was help out there. It had been pretty fun, of course she hadn't expected several grown ups to show up.

The Hokage stopping by was a surprise, then there was Gai who came out of nowhere. Asuma also showed up for a bit too. But then that was when Anko showed up onto the scene, she had been talking with Naruto when a kunai came out of nowhere and actually sliced his cheek a bit. She had screamed and fell back and Naruto jumped as well a hand going to his face. And there smiling was Anko.

"You're getting slow brat you used to be able to doge those better," she said.

Naruto jumped at her yelling and it kind of devolved into the point where insults were flying and she ended up putting him into a headlock. But then after that they were both acting like nothing happened all the while she had been too scared to move and every other kid just stood there frozen in shock. The adults were used to it though and Hinata seemed to take it better although she had been worried about the small cut on his cheek.

Thinking back to the present she was now worried what kind of help Anko was going to give them.

"So Kakashi you better make this worth my while," Anko said facing the masked jonin. "I'm taking time off my schedule for this and that weapons smith was on the other side of the village too."

"Alright fair enough, dango is on me then," he smiled at her.

Anko thought about it, that sure would be nice but she had been thinking about Kakashi a lot more than usual lately. Ever since she saw that damn face of his, she found the image of his face showing up at the oddest times. Okay so he was physically attractive, had a major carrier, and was a single father who did his best to raise his adopted kid. Hell to most women that would be the perfect guy, although he did have his faults.

He was so secretive that only after years of knowing him did she know a bit. She knew about him going to the memorial stone almost daily and that was the real reason he was constantly late. She knew about his parents dying while he was young, the suicide of his father. She knew that behind that mask he had to be hurting a lot but he never showed it, never bothered people with it. She knew about his reading habits but in all honesty she had her own copies of the books too. Hell some women actually liked them because they had some strong female characters in them while some romance books the woman was all girly and couldn't do anything herself.

Plus the sex scenes were really hot.

But now she had him in an interesting way, he owed her and maybe now she could finally sort things out with how she felt and maybe even seeing if she could get past that wall he put up.

"Actually that might be a good idea Kakashi...for desert," she said grinning and noticed his confused look. "The dango can pay for the trip to the weapons smith but for my help training will take more."

Kakashi sighed, "Okay then what do you want?"

"Easy, take me out for a decent dinner tonight."

Kakashi blinked a few times, "huh?"

"Nothing fancy, just treat me to dinner and dango and we call it even."

Kakashi thought it over and it wasn't a bad idea actually. Plus he couldn't think of anyone else he wouldn't mind spending time with. She was an interesting woman and he had to admit she was full of life, although he knew that she put on a face sometimes but she largely enjoyed life. Besides he did owe her and he couldn't remember the last time he just went out.

"Alright it's a fair deal."

"Alright then, so which one is my victim for the day?" She asked looking at the three kids.

"Just hold your horses I have to explain things to them first," Kakashi smiled as he turned to face his team. "Okay Sakura and Sasuke, you two will start weapons training today. Sasuke even though you're good with the ninja wire I think it's time for you to learn how to use something. The academy records said you showed promise with a sword so I got you one."

He motioned to Anko who walked over and laid down one of the wooden boxes. She opened it and handed a katana to him and handed it to him. Kakashi pulled the blade from the sheath as he showed it to him.

"This is a special blade made from a strong metal that you can send chakra through. Now it will take time to learn that but I think this could be good for you. I'll be teaching you how to wield it." Kakashi said as he put the blade back and handed it to the boy.

"Now as for you Sakura, Anko will be teaching you the weapon I chose for you," Kakashi smiled seeing the girl get a little pale at the mention of Anko teaching her.

Anko pulled out two weapons from the box, they were long pieces of metal that were rounded with a handle near the bottom.

"These are tonfas," Kakashi explained to the girl who tested them out. "They can be used to defend and attack in many ways. You can disable or even cripple a person with them making them very versatile."

What he didn't say was that he wanted her to have a nonlethal weapon until she was more ready to kill; she had been the most shook up from her first kill so he wanted to give her the option of being able to take someone down without killing. At any rate she still have her kunai and shurikens if she really did need to kill, plus even a tonfa could kill. You could break someone's neck, crack their skull or just bludgeon them with the weapon.

Plus Naruto did say that she can hit pretty hard so it was a good weapon for her.

"Hey what about me?" Naruto asked looking up at him.

"I was getting to you Naruto," Kakashi smiled as he pulled out a small sword. "I had to wait to get this repaired as it was broken for a long time. I just never had a reason to get it fixed until now. Naruto this is my father's White Light Chakra Saber."

Naruto looked wide eyed at it as he gently took the small sword. "You mean grandpa Hatake's sword? The one that you once used?"

"Yep." Kakashi said to him.

"But...this is a family heirloom," Naruto wasn't sure if he should even accept it. He wasn't a real Hatake after all, he was only adopted.

Kakashi placed a hand on his should, "Who better to give this to other then my own son?"

Naruto looked up feeling so nice that Kakashi told him that, even though they weren't related by blood they were a real family. He smiled down looking at the blade used by Sakumo Hatake the legendary White Fang. Just holding the blade Naruto wanted to do proud by his adopted family. He pulled out the sword and it looked normal enough.

"You have to channel your chakra into the blade to get the full effect it will take some time but you're not doing weapons practice today." Kakashi told him.

"What? How come?" he demanded.

"Because even though you're ahead of Sasuke in the way of the sword, but he's been training with those new jutsus. So it's ninjustu training for you today." Kakashi told him. " I want you to practice those scrolls I gave you, the wind armor and wind blade will be very useful to you."

"Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asked him. "Uh...will I be using more genjustu instead of ninjustu?"

"Well it's your strength but what's your element?"

Sakura didn't know, thankfully Kakashi had a few slips of chakra paper on him among his supplies. He tested her and it turned out that she was a water user. Unfortunately he didn't know any low powered water styles jutsus, and neither did Anko. Sakura was a little disappointed to hear that as she knew her chakra levels needed more work. But Kakashi did say he would looking into more genjustu and lower level water style moves as well.

Sakura felt a bit better at that, that is until a hand slapped down onto her shoulder. She looked up nervously at a grinning Anko and swallowed hard.

"Well Pinky looks like we get to play," Anko said dangerously.

And so the day went. Kakashi trained Sasuke in the finer uses of a sword while he went to check on Naruto and Sakura to give any helpful hints. Naruto was using his shadow clones trying to get his chakra just right for the moves. He already had the hand seals down, but the moving and altering your chakra part he knew Naruto would have trouble with. So he gave helpful hints now and then. He also noticed that at least one clone was training with his father's sword, he should have known that Naruto would still find a way to train with that.

He saw Sakura was actually learning well from Anko, although the woman was pushing the young girl very hard. Sakura asked if she could take off the weights that were on her ankles and wrists but Anko told her that if she even thought about it again she would get her heavier ones. Sakura didn't mention it again after it.

Sasuke did have some talent with the sword and he could see that he picked the right weapon. He also asked Kakashi more about Obito while they trained and Kakashi did. It was actually nice being able to talk about his best friend. Sasuke did have to admit after hearing the stories that Obito was nothing like an Uchiha.

By the end of the day all three students were wiped out. Sakura felt like her entire body ached, Sasuke arms hurt from using the blade for so long and Naruto was getting close to chakra exhaustion. But all three genin felt like they had made some progress for the day, so Kakashi let them off the hook a few hours early. The kids went off and he was proud of how well they were doing for the first day. He was thinking about getting them some new weights as well as this training would help them adjust to them even more.

"So Kakashi you better keep your end of the deal." Anko told him.

"Oh don't worry I know better than to get on your bad side," he chuckled.

After they both went to their homes for a quick shower and a change of clothes. Although it was just a dinner between friends both felt a little strange by this. They had eaten before, but never alone. Usually Naruto was with them and/or they were with their friends as well. So now they were both wondering if they should just dress casual or at least put a little effort into it. For Kakashi he just decided to dress down a bit, mainly just pants without the taping at the bottom, and with no chunin jacket either. In fact he went with a simple dark shirt that matched his mask.

For Anko she was wondering a bit more about her appearance, this was just one step to see if there was anything between the two of them. She didn't want to dress too strongly but also wanted to give him something to think about. She got rid of all the ninja gear and her trench coat. She kept her hair in its usual way, but went with simple sandals, a skirt and a nice shirt that went with it. The good thing about the shirt was that it had a nice little v-neck line that let her show off some cleavage but not too much.

She decided with only light lipstick for the night as she picked up a purse she wore when she went out in more civilian clothing without her coat. With that ready she walked over to Kakashi's, after all she told him that she would meet him. She was in no mood to wait around for him in case he was late again.

She got to the front door and knocked and when Kakashi showed up she liked the casual look although she wished he wouldn't wear the mask again. She mentally sighed seeing him wearing it.

"So you ready to go?" Kakashi asked giving her an eye smile.

"Sure thing," she said as they walked to their destination. They had a little light talk on the way there as he asked her about Sakura's progress. Anko had to admit that Sakura was raw but the girl had some talent when she actually applied herself. With some proper motivation and training she was sure that the girl would become a good ninja one day.

They decided on a nice little place that was more civilian patronage, mainly because they didn't want to run into anyone from work and starting all kinds of rumors. They both didn't need any more rumors running about them, not that they cared but it did get a bit annoying at times. Plus the place sold dango so Anko was sold on that point alone. Dinner turned out to be very nice for them, Anko was still annoyed that he somehow managed to eat and drink without taking the damn mask off.

If she hadn't seen his face that one time she would have been convinced that he had been born with the damn thing on his skin. At any rate they would talk about the usual things that ninjas would talk about, new missions they had been on. New ninja supplies and which store offered the best merchandise and what new things were in stock. New information on the ninja world as well, such as who just got into the bingo books and why, and who was now off the books. (and there was only one way someone usually got off the books).

They even would talk about a in jokes that only ninjas would get as well. And the latest news on their fellow ninjas too. Kakashi wasn't surprised to find that Gai was last seen trying to climb the Hokage mountain with a boulder on his back with both arms tied behind his back. Apparently he made it halfway up before he crash landed, he was expected to get out of the hospital in a week.

After dinner, Anko decided to have her dango to go as she ate it happily as they walked out. Kakashi had to chuckle at how childlike she was when she was happily eating the snack food. It really took the edges off her personality and he felt that he was getting a small look at a side of her that she didn't let out often.

"Hey Kakashi you want some tea?" Anko asked as she finished off her last stick. "We're close to my apartment and I could use some after that meal."

Kakashi thought about it and it did sound nice, plus he knew it wasn't going to lead up to anything. He had a couple of dates in the past that used the 'you want to come up for some tea' line but Anko didn't put any hidden meaning behind the wording. Plus he had never seen her place before so he was interested in what her place looked like. They walked up to a ordinary apartment complex, nothing major as you see them around the village all over the place.

It helped to save space to build apartments rather than housing, because the more the village grew you ran into a problem with the walls surrounding the village. You would have to expand the walls and that wouldn't be an easy feat and very expensive as well.

So they walked up to the fifth floor as she put her key into the lock and they walked inside.

Kakashi looked around as she went to the kitchen to make the tea. It was a fairly neat and tidy place. He hadn't been sure what to expect but it was a fairly ordinary place, it was lived in but something was odd about it. He looked and realized it was actually kind of plain.

There were a few decorations here and there but nothing that really stood out like she decorated to just fill in space. Although he guessed she filled those spaces with things she liked. He noticed a painting in black and white of a lone tree in a valley. It was kind of lonely looking to him.

A few other things here or there but he noticed that one shelf held a lot of pictures. He smiled as he looked at one with a younger Anko and Kurenai smiling with chunin vests on. It was most likely taken just as they were both made chunin together. There was one of her with Naruto and himself at one of Naruto's birthdays. A few others of the few friends as well were there but there was one that caught his eye. He gently picked it up seeing a very young Anko with two older people. From the looks of it he had a guess they were her parents.

Anko came back with some tea and saw him looking at her pictures and when she got closer she saw the one he held. She silently looked on not sure what to say, it wasn't easy talking about her parents. Thankfully she didn't have to as he suddenly spoke up without looking at her.

"It's hard living with this kind of burden isn't it?"

"What?" she asked.

"Living on after those we loved have gone." He said as he gently put the photo back still looking at it. "I was young too when I lost my parents. I can barely remember my mother anymore, other than from pictures and I find myself struggling to even remember her voice."

Anko now knew what he was talking about and she felt it too. Having to move one with her parents gone hurt every day. Sure it didn't hurt as much as it did but there was a hole in her life that she would never get back. And now she remembered that Kakashi most likely had that same hole as well.

"I was so young when they died," Anko said silently. "I remember them hugging me and telling me they would be back from their mission soon. I waited and waited but they never came back. I would stay up all night waiting for them when they didn't come back on time, then I heard they had been killed on the mission."

"I was devastated, I was filled with so much pain and anger. I thought nothing would be okay again and then..." she trailed off remembering what happened next.

Kakashi was interested in knowing, ever after all these years he still didn't know much about her. But then again they were both secretive people. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder making her look up into his eye.

"You don't have to go on if you don't want to, I know how painful the past is."

Anko nodded but instead she felt like she had to get this out. Only Kurenai knew about this, and that took a long time to trust her with this. But she felt that she could trust him, after all this time maybe it was time to start opening up a bit. Besides he was just as screwed up from a painful past as she was so maybe he could relate.

"That was when Orochimaru found me," she stated and Kakashi nodded his head. "He became my teacher, my mentor and...well he helped me. Or at least I thought he was helping me but I was nothing but a tool for him. He told me all the right things and made me trust him, then he puts this damn cursed seal on me and leaves me behind. He took my memories as well...do you know what that's like?"

"I feel like I was violated in a way that I didn't know existed. That bastard ruined my life for a second time."

Anko clenched her fists in anger feeling all the old pain rising up. Then she felt Kakashi gently holding onto her shoulders and she was brought out of it. She looked into his eye and she didn't see pity or sorrow. She saw a deep understanding in that single eye of his.

"No matter what happened Anko just remembered that you endured. You rose up from the wreckage to become even stronger than you were before. It's not an easy thing to do and you should be proud of that. I know what it's like to have been left behind to pick up the pieces. It's never easy but I learned something." He said to her.

"My life hit rock bottom the night of the Fox's attack and I lost the last precious person in my life. I had nothing and yet that was the night I took in Naruto. Because I knew what it was like to have nothing and I didn't want that for him. But the funny thing is that even though I took him in to help him, he helped me as well. He gave me a reason to get up in the morning and something worth living for. I learned that you don't have to go through it alone."

Anko smiled a little, "I did have Kurenai to help me out when we became friends. And later the other few friends I made too."

Kakashi smiled back at her. "Yeah and well...you know me and Naruto will be there too."

Anko felt a warmth in her chest that he would be there for her, she hadn't felt a feeling like that in so long. She wasn't sure what it was but it felt nice to her. "Thanks Kakashi and well...the same goes for me too."

Kakashi nodded his head, he wasn't sure why but he felt glad about that. "So what about that tea?"

Anko just laughed at that moment, it figures that he would break up a moment like this with something like that. But she was glad for it as they went to get their tea together as they went into more light hearted conversations.

**Next up chapter 32: Rematch with Lee**


	32. Rematch with Lee

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 32: Rematch with Lee**

It had been a couple of weeks and from the new training and D-Rank missions things were going well for Team 7. Although the new training on top of any old training was going well they all felt like they were getting much stronger now as well. They were even increasing how heavy the weights were at the moment, Sakura still had the lightest set but she was starting to catch up a bit more all the time. Right now they had just finished another mission, mainly walking some lady's dogs.

Although after the last big mission the team was glad to relax a bit, they were starting to feel like they needed a bit more of a challenge. At the moment they were just hanging out in a small alley wondering what to do next. Of course now all the genins were had weapon holsters, Naruto's was on his back, while Sasuke's was behind his lower back. Sakura had used the holders for her tonfas behind her back as well as it was the easiest place to keep them.

"Oh man I'm so bored," Naruto whined, "Why couldn't we have trained or done more missions? Plus Teams 8 and 10 are busy with their own missions. This just sucks."

"Well why didn't Kakashi-sensei wanted to continue with training Naruto?" Sakura asked him feeling just as bored. Although the training she was getting made her feel stronger, the fact that Anko was helping her with the weapons was something that she looked forward to and dreaded. The woman was good there was no question about that but the woman also was scary.

"I don't know," Naruto shrugged. Maybe his dad just needed some time but the only thing he said was that there was someone he needed to see and just disappeared.

"This is pointless," Sasuke said pushing himself off the wall. "We should train or something if not then I can go home and work on my fire jutsus."

Naruto felt like he needed to train too but he felt like he needed something different. They had been training together for two weeks now and it was kind of getting predictable. Maybe something new and unexpected was in order the only problem was that who would be up for some training/sparring? The others in their age group were all busy and it wasn't like any of the adults could spare anything.

Then it hit Naruto just who might be up for just that, if there was one teacher and student that would be up for something they would be.

"Oh hey I know just who to train with!" Naruto said excitedly. "I think they might still be in the village too and I know where they train!"

"Naruto slow down," Sakura yelled at him, "Who are you talking about?"

"Oh right sorry," Naruto scratched the back of his head slightly embarrassed. "Well you know Hinata-chan's cousin?"

Sakura nodded, she and the others had met the boy at Naruto's sometimes. He was kind of cold although Ino loved the boy's hair and was even a bit jealous of it as well. She remembered how the cool Hyuga boy had been surprised when Ino ran up to him begging for his secrets of his hair care.

"Yeah well Neji's team is a year ahead of us and he's been trained by Uncle Gai. Trust me he'd love to have his team go up against ours just because he's my dad's rival." There was another reason and that was because Naruto wanted another sparring match against Lee. With his new moves and skills he was now ready to take on the older boy.

Sasuke gave a small grunt, "What's so special about this group besides that you know them?"

Sasuke didn't really see anything important about this team, besides how could they challenge them? Although he wouldn't admit it out loud they were most likely the best team in their class. Sakura was proving to be better than he had originally thought and liked that she took her training seriously. Although he wished she would stop acting like a fan girl whenever he gave her attention it was seriously annoying. Plus Naruto had always been someone he had to push himself to stay ahead of as well.

Naruto knew what would sell Sasuke as a grin slowly spread behind his mask. "Oh they just have the Neji Hyuga who was last year's rookie of the year and is said to be a Hyuga prodigy. But I guess that's not going to interests you in the least. After all just because the guy might be even better than you-"

"What did you say?" Sasuke said coldly.

"What? He's a year older and after all the Hyuga are the most powerful clan now."

Sasuke grounded his teeth at that last comment, the only reason the Hyuga were so powerful was because Itachi killed off his clan. Plus he had to admit his ego was telling him that there was no way some Hyuga boy could be better than he was. Perhaps if Naruto wanted to train with this team he could also prove just who was the real prodigy in this village as well.

Naruto smirked seeing Sasuke thinking about it, he knew that he would never be able to pass up the chance to go at it with Neji if he found out about him. Plus that whole Hyuga/Uchiha rivalry was a sure fire way to get him to go. It was just like with his dad and Gai, if you knew what buttons to push then all you had to do was sit back and let nature take its course. After years of doing it with those two adults, doing this to Sasuke was just so much simpler.

"So," Naruto grinned at him, "what do you say? Wanna go and see for yourself how the great Hyuga fights? If he feels honoured he might let you watch."

Sasuke glared at Naruto and the masked boy knew he had him there.

"Just shut up and lead the way," Sasuke snapped.

So the young team were on their way to meet up with Team Gai and Naruto couldn't wait. Plus while walking he gave them a few heads up. They were kind of confused on why they weren't supposed to 'look directly at the green' whatever that meant. And also when he yelled out to turn away to do so if they didn't want more mental scarring over something that Naruto just kept saying was 'the most sickening and scary genjutsu in the world'. He didn't elaborate, he only shivered as he thought about it. Sakura was wondering what type of genjutsu could have that kind of effect? Well whatever it was she wanted to see what the big deal is and maybe she could learn a new one out of this.

**-Team Gai Training Grounds-**

Neji sighed as he was waiting with Tenten for Lee and Gai to get through another round of them yelling each other's name and hoping he didn't do the whole slow motion, running into the sun set thing. Although he and Tenten had long ago figured out how to tune them out when they got like this, they had to pay attention or get accidentally caught seeing that horrible display of theirs. He sighed in annoyance wondering how long this would take, he was getting bored.

He cast a look to see Tenten just as bored, but then again the girl was already ready for action. She was twirling a kunai around on the ring with a finger not even looking at it. Most would be nervous about that but he knew that her skills were better than most ninja with weapons, in fact they were amazing. Every weapon she picked up, it was like she had been training with it for years a true gift. Plus unlike most young Kunoichi she was actually focused on her skills and training. It was nice to have that for a change instead of the fan girls from his days at school. Like with the Uchiha he too had to have dealt with that for pretty much the same reasons he did.

Neji couldn't stand that kind of false worship and praise. So when Tenten was on the team he sighed a breath of release. He hadn't been sure of Lee since he was only able to pass the exam because he was handicapped so he had to take a special test. He passed at the bottom because of his inability to use ninjustu or genjutsu but the boy's determination was making up for it. He never admitted it but Lee was getting close to his own skills. Even with his 'handicap' Lee was proving a true challenge.

"How much longer?" Tenten whined.

"Don't know, they're very enthusiastic this morning." Neji sighed thinking that the two should switch to decaf if they got like this. It was then that his ears picked up on something coming up on them. He silently activated his eyes and focused on the sound. He was surprised by what he saw and he gave a slow sadistic smile on his face.

"Tenten, pervert at four o'clock. Angle it at twenty degrees." He grinned seeing her eyes widen and then get very furious. If there was one thing he found out it was that Tenten hated perverts, he wasn't sure why but apparently it had something to do with an incident where she had been at the woman's hot spring with her mother once. Then some kind of large white haired pervert had been caught peeping on them. Tenten never got a good look at the pervert as he was quickly chased off by the angry women but she had never been so embarrassed or humiliated in her life.

Tenten hefted the kunai a couple of times and then quickly turned and threw it.

"Hey!" a familiar voice yelled out as Naruto came out of the forest holding her kunai. "What the hell!? Are you two trying to kill me!?"

Tenten's eyes widen at that as she ran over trying to apologies. "Neji! Why did you tell me that there was a pervert in the forest?" She yelled at him.

"What he isn't? I remember you calling him that a few times while trying to kill him," Neji said as if it was nothing new. Tenten blushed remember how she had gone after Naruto after he showed off that forbidden jutsu in front of them. She had forgiven him of course but she did warn him if she ever saw him use that move she would kick his ass again.

Naruto hadn't thought that Neji had it him for something like this, maybe he was starting to rub off on the older boy. Well one good turn deserves another in his mind. He gently gave Tenten back her kunai and his hands rested on hers a little longer than normal.

"Well it's okay, I know that Tenten-chan wouldn't hurt me for real. Besides she one of best female ninja around and her skills with weapons are amazing. Plus she's one of the cutest girls too," with that he gave her a wink making the slightly older girl blush a bit before pulling her hand back.

This had several effects as Team 7 had come out in time to see this. First was Sasuke raising an eyebrow wondering what the hell was going on. Sakura instantly became jealous of how Naruto was _flirting_ with this girl, and older girl at that. But the effect that it had on Neji was just the reaction he was hoping for. Neji's hands clenched so hard he could see them going white and the look in his eyes showed the he wanted to kill the masked boy.

Naruto knew that Neji had a crush on the girl and this was perfect evidence for it, sure Tenten was cute but he had other things in mind for a possible girlfriend. Although he did like using those lines he got from his dad on how to compliment a girl. She looked so cute blushing like that, anyway if this didn't get Neji off his butt and do something then someone else would ask out Tenten and then he'd be out of luck.

"Naruto-kun!" Came the voice of Gai as he walked up to them smiling. "I'm glad for a visit from you my most youthful friend, and I see you brought the rest of the team of my eternal rival as well."

"Naruto!" Lee said jumped over to the other boy, "I'm glad you came, I am eager for our rematch and I will not lose again to you as I've found a way around...that...move."

Lee gave a slight shuddered from it, although it was most unyougthful move it had been very effective. Plus he tried not to think on the image of that beautiful girl either. But then his eyes drifted over and they widened. Before Naruto could say a word Lee had just moved quickly to be in front of Sakura. He knelt down in front of her taking one of her hands.

"And this must be Sakura," Lee said with stars in his eyes. "You are just as beautiful as Naruto has claimed, no you are even more beautiful than that. Please go out with me! I will protect you with my life!"

Sakura was shocked by all of this, he was coming on pretty strong for her. He might have been cute if it wasn't for the hideous green suit he was wearing and she couldn't stop staring at those huge eyebrows. They looked like caterpillars on his face or something. She knew that she had to do something, she didn't want to break his heart or anything after all, Naruto was always nice to people even letting them down. She remembered how he let down several of the fan girls back at school and that was one of the reasons the girls liked him. Unlike Sasuke who had just ignored them, at least Naruto had been nice about it.

It was just one of the things that kind of rubbed off her over the years being friends with Naruto. She quickly looked around and he was too far away but Sasuke was right next to her. She quickly grabbed his arm in hers. "Sorry but I'm dating someone already."

Lee's mouth hung open as did Naruto.

'_When did that happen!?'_ Naruto thought about seeing his crush locking arms with Sasuke. He knew that Sakura was a bit confused on who she liked more but when did she chose Sasuke? He felt a little depressed at losing to him in this and although he just wanted Sakura to be happy he had wished she had chosen him instead.

Sasuke wasn't sure what she was playing on but when he was about to object he felt her nails suddenly dig into his skin. He stopped himself from yelling and gave her a glare, she quickly leaned in and whispered something to him.

"Please just go with it, I don't want him to think he has a chance. I'll owe you one and you just have to name it Sasuke-kun." She quietly said.

He thought about it, normally he wouldn't even think about it but she was a teammate and lately he had been thinking on what that meant. All those stories that Kakashi told him of Obito (who by now Sasuke was sure that Obito was the most original Uchiha of all time) he had been thinking about what his team meant to him. Now Sakura was asking for help, although posing as her boyfriend wasn't something he would have liked to have done she did say anything.

He would have to think about it as he would ensure that he got something really good back in return. "Yeah, we're dating." He simply said as Lee hung in head in depression.

"Ah the power of youth is in you two, and fear not Lee there will be other opportunities for you to share your own youth with some lucky girl!" Gai proclaimed making Lee perk up a bit at that. Then he turned to Naruto who was glad he had on a mask at that point so no one could see his face.

"So Naruto why have you visited us this fine day?"

Naruto was brought out of his slight depression at the reason they were even there. "Oh yeah, well it was just that we were kind of bored and we were hoping that we could spar against your team. I know that I want to show off some new moves against Lee here. And don't worry I won't use_ that_ jutsu against you."

He quickly cast a nervous look to Tenten before looking back.

"Gai-sensei, please let us spar together. I to wish to test myself against Naruto again and I want to see how well we both have improved." Lee pleaded with Gai.

Gai thought about it and it wasn't a bad idea actually. It would help both teams improve and also could help them to become stronger for it.

So it was agreed that the teams would pair off for the sparing matches. Sakura against Tenten, Sasuke against Neji and Naruto and Lee were eager to go at it. Gai would oversee everything and his word was final, when he said to stop they were to stop. So with a raised hand he looked at all three ready to go and then he dropped his hand. The three sparring matches started off right away.

Sakura and Tenten were sizing each other up, Sakura pulled out her tonfas ready to give the girl a fight. Tenten smirked and from a scroll pulled out a set of her own, the older girl twirled them around with more confidence and speed then Sakura knew she had ever done.

"I hope you don't mind I never get to use these much and I'd love to spar against someone who is training to use them. When most ninja just use kunai and shurikens things get so boring, it's nice to meet another ninja that likes to fight with something more unique." Tenten smiled as she got ready.

Sakura struck out with her tonfa and wasn't surprised the girl was able to block and counter attack. Before the match Naruto gave her a warning that Tenten was a master of weapons, it was her specialty. This made Sakura realise that she had no chance against a weapons master but she wanted to improve herself and Anko always said to fight those stronger than you to improve.

So she fought back as both girls fought with the weapons, the clacking they made as the weapons hit was nearly a constant beat. Both girls twirling them, throwing out strikes and trying to go for any grapple moves with the weapons. Tenten was scoring more hits and was a bit disappointed, she had been hoping for more. Sakura knew that she wasn't fast enough and jumped away to give her some space.

"Giving up already?" Tenten asked.

"No I just need to take these off," and with that Sakura hit a simple latch on the new weights that let them dropped off easily. First her writs and then the ones at her ankles, now Sakura felt a lot more mobile, now she felt better. She came back at Tenten with a lot more speed and aggression now and the older girl was surprised. The blows were a lot harder now and she was surprised the younger girl had that kind of power to her hits.

The battle only intensified as the girls were moving all over the place trading blows, although Tenten did get in the most shots it wasn't as many now and Sakura's blows were getting better too. Tenten wasn't sure who taught the young girl to fight but it was a vicious style. There was some agility to it but the strikes were to do maximum damage with little effort. She would have to ask who taught her by the end of this.

With Neji and Sasuke, the two boys were already in a staring match, neither one wanted to be the one to make the first move until they felt they had an opening. Each of them were child prodigies of their clan, and their own clans had been rivals ever since the day the Hyuga came to Konoha. As the only two clans with powerful eye bloodlines of course rivalries would spring up, and of course many debated which was better, the Sharingan or the Byakugan.

"You will learn that there is reason that the Hyuga clan is the strongest in the village," Neji said to the dark haired boy.

"Hn, talk is cheap and I'll show you just why my clan was so feared and respected," Sasuke said back and started his charge. Neji and Sasuke stared off with taijutsu skills, Sasuke's Intercepting Fist styles against the Gentle Fist style of the Hyuga clan. Neji stayed where he was defending or deflecting the blows, while Sasuke's movements were more pronounced. The Hyuga style didn't have many kicks as it relied mostly on the hands and arms. The Intercepting Fist was a bit more open than that and allowed Sasuke more types of attacks.

He jumped up for a kick and wasn't surprised the other boy blocked it, but Sasuke spun and the heel of his foot made an arc in the air sweeping downward into a modified axe kick to Neji's head. But Neji saw this coming and threw his other forearm forward to block the downward kick. Both boys moved back after the attack and after a second of studying the other went back at it again.

Neji was striking out with lightning speeds with his fist trying to hit the Uchiha boy. Sasuke just focused on dodging the blows and it was working as Neji was getting a little frustrated.

Sasuke smirked at the boy, "You're eyes are said to see everything but that's not true. There is one thing that they can't see."

"And what is that?" Neji asked as they didn't stop the fighting.

"They can't see the future and with my eyes I can see every move you make before you do it," Sasuke smirked.

With his eyes he could see the subtle movements in his body telling him what his opponent was thinking of doing. He could see where the chakra was going into his body and it was like the other boy was moving slower. But Kakashi had explained that it was how his brain was interpreting the new information of his eyes. They were moving at the same speed only his perception of it was different, his mind was actually moving slightly faster than normal.

So with this he could 'see' where Neji wanted to strike and he made sure he wasn't anywhere in that area. The only problem for him though, was that he couldn't get past the boy's defence. Neji's eyes would see in a 360 degree arc, meaning that there was no angle that he could get through. There had to be a way through the defence but Sasuke couldn't see it.

There was another problem and that was he had to be careful of his attacks, any attack that he put in he had to be careful that Neji couldn't hit him back with his hands because he would shut them down, by attacking his chakra pathways. So if Taijutsu was out there was the other ways of fighting.

He jumped back throwing several kunai, Neji was surprised by the sudden change in tactics but took out two kunai of his own and easily blocked them. After all the practice with Tenten it would take a lot more than that to get through his defence. Sasuke yelled out as he charged with his sword in hand now, it would give him the reach while kept Neji away at a distance. Neji jumped back, he had seen the sword but hadn't thought the boy would be forced to bring it out, but it did make Neji smirk as he had _forced _him to use it.

Although with the sword Sasuke knew he couldn't use any hand seals for jutsus but with this he was keeping the Hyuga boy on his toes as all he had was kunai to block the blows of his sword. Although he was reluctant to admit it, the Hyuga was good. Neji was now seeing first hand why the Uchiha clan had gained its reputation but he refused to give up fighting.

Lee and Naruto were after each other as soon as Gai told them to start. Neither one was wasting any time already charging against each other. Both of them started off with just taijutsu like Sasuke and Neji had. Both boys were fast and furious as they're styles were designed to be that way. For Lee his Strong Fist style was used to create a lot of external damage to his opponent. Naruto's style was something more original as he had been working on it all his life. It was a mesh of several styles, things he learned from his dad, Anko and even Gai. It was powerful moves but it was also unpredictable as for Naruto he kept making things up on the fly all the time. Speed and manoeuvrability were key to it, as it made him hard to hit while on defence but when he switched to offence he had little in the way of defending.

It was complex but for Naruto it just fit him, he had yet to give it a name as he wanted something really cool for it.

Now both boys were eagerly going at it, trading blows with reckless abandon but both loving it. Naruto knew that he was no match for Lee with just limiting himself to taijutsu but he wanted to see how far he had come against someone like him. But Lee was just too fast and what bothered Naruto was that he knew the green clothed boy had on weights on his legs that were much heavier then his.

"Yosh, Naruto-kun you're abilities have gotten a lot better!" Lee proclaimed.

"Yeah but I'm still not a match for you," Naruto said back.

"Then please don't hold back I want you at your best," Lee told him.

"Okay it's your funeral," her smirked making over a dozen shadow clones. They all charged Lee, but he simply destroyed them one at a time. As Lee was doing this Naruto was thinking of his next move and called up one of his special shadow clones. This single clone jumped out in front of Lee and just stopped.

Lee was a little confused at the clone as it winked at him, and then suddenly exploded. The force was enough to send up dirt everywhere blinding the boy for the moment. Then he felt a kick to his front as Naruto had used that distraction to get in a flying kick on Lee.

"That was a most excellent move Naruto-kun, but I will not fall for it a second time!" Lee said charging Naruto again.

Naruto went into a set of hand seals before crying out his next jutsu, "Wind Style: Air armor!"

There was a green molding of air around his body, Lee's fist came flying and Naruto tried to dodge it. Lee had thought he would get a glancing blow until he felt that there was wind around Naruto. It seemed to deflect his fist even more and he saw the bandages on his arms starting to rip up. He jumped back avoiding a kick by Naruto.

Naruto smirked under his mask, "Like it? I just learned it. It's call air armor and it covers my body with wind. It's supposed to shred anything that comes in contact with it, but I'm still working on it. For now unless you hit me directly, you'll just slide off and you'll get damaged because of it."

Naruto was proud that he had managed to get some headway in the jutsu, although it was far from perfect. He was more ahead with the air blade but he didn't want to end up killing Lee by accident. His dad forbad him from using it in sparring until he had more control. But this would help even things out as Lee would be forced to aim for more direct hits and by the smiling form of Lee he was all up for the challenge.

Gai was proud of how well the genins were doing, he had been thinking that now was the time for them to take the chunin exams but seeing them against Kakashi's team it was obvious that his team was quickly catching up and would be ready for the chunin exams themselves at this rate. He smiled at the thought of his team and his rival's team both competing in the exams. If this was any indication Kakashi's team would be a tough one to beat this year. Both teams had a similar setup as he watched them. There were the two prodigies, two very determined Kunoichi and two boys who were geniuses of hard work.

The girls were running out of energy first it seemed, Tenten didn't have the chakra or stamina that Neji or Lee had. The two geniuses were refusing to give the other any slack, it was almost a grudge match and he was a bit worried because of how intense it was getting. Lee and Naruto were having fun with the spar, although both looked a little worse for wear as they were both the type to charge in first no matter what kind of damage they gained. After fifteen minutes both Tenten and Sakura had stopped panting and sweating, and so Gai called their match to an end. Both girls nodded to each other a little respect showing as they went to get something to drink.

But the boys kept on fighting and when thirty minutes had come and gone Gai felt they were getting pretty close to ending things. He decided that they had enough and raised an arm.

"That's enough, the rest of you stop!" Gai bellowed out.

The four stopped but they didn't look happy at it.

"Oh come on we're just getting started, right Lee?" Naruto asked his partner.

"Yes Gai-sensei please let us continue!" Lee asked.

Neji and Sasuke although looked nearly exhausted were still giving each other determined looks. Neither of them wanted to back down either as there was still no clear winner.

Gai shook his head, "I think you all have done enough, in fact I'm proud of my rival's team to have lasted as long as they could against a more seasoned team. This means that we'll have to increase our training to become even stronger when you next meet!"

"Yes Gai-sensei!" Lee said with tears running down his face.

"Oh god no," Naruto muttered quickly turning away. Sakura and Sasuke were wondering why when they noticed Neji and Tenten quickly doing the same thing. Then that's when it started, first with Lee and Gai calling out to each other over and over and then they started running towards the other. It was then that suddenly a sun set came out of nowhere and the two were at a beach of all things. They ran into each other hugging as a giant wave crashed against the rocks.

Sasuke looked sickened at the image but unfortunately he hadn't turned off his sharingan, the image was burned into his mind for all time and for years this image would haunt his dreams like it had so many others in the village. Sakura now understood what Naruto meant, she tried to cancel the genjustu but to her horror she couldn't. She tried to figure out how he even made it, if she could copy this it would be something that could really throw her enemies off. That is if she could ever get over the image herself.

**Next up chapter 33: Mission Team Up**


	33. Mission Team Up

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 33: Mission Team Up**

Team 8 was once more in front of the Hokage and his staff as they reported a completed mission. Although it was just a dog walking on, although Kiba didn't mind it so much plus Akamaru got to make some new friends as well. But as Kurenai was making the report he couldn't help but be bored. He was sick and tired of these kid missions and wanted something better than this. When the Hokage heard the report he was looking for other missions to give them, still all D ranked as well.

Iruka who was there filling in before the new school season started up read off all the lame (in Kiba's mind) missions he just couldn't take it anymore. He knew that Hinata was too kind hearted to say anything and Shino never said much anyway so it was all up to him.

"Oh come on can't we do something better?" Kiba asked.

"Kiba," Kurenai snapped at him and he did flinch but he still didn't seem deterred.

"But we've done these kinds of missions for months now. Aren't we ready for a real mission yet? This kind of stuff is lame and we can't get any stronger by doing this stuff. Can't we at least do a C ranked mission?"

"Kiba that's enough," Kurenai told him in a stern manner. "I know you want to do more but I have to think of the entire team and not just you."

Kiba didn't like it one bit, "So you're saying as a team we're weak?"

Kurenai noticed the reactions that got out of her other team members. Shino arched an eyebrow at that, which spoke volumes she learned. Although she wasn't sure what the young bug user was actually thinking. Hinata looked down and she knew what the young girl was thinking, she was most likely blaming herself for this like always. Kurenai mentally sighed thinking about all of this, her team had great team work but they lacked experience. Plus she wasn't sure how they would deal in a life and death situation and would like to train them a bit more.

However everyone's attention was suddenly attracted to loud sounds coming from behind them.

"Where are you going, we have to wait!" Came a female voice.

"Oh come on like the Old Man won't see us and besides we finished that lame mission anyway!" said an equally loud and familiar voice.

The door was thrown open as a dishevelled looking Naruto as he came walking in, his team following him. Sasuke with his hands in his pockets looking bored, Kakashi with his usual lazy stance and Sakura looking worried.

"Hey Old Man what's the deal by having us chase that demonic furball again?" Naruto demanded of the Hokage.

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded him grabbing him by the ear and then bowing to the Hokage, "Sorry Hokage-sama."

"I take it you didn't like the last mission Naruto?" The Hokage said smirking at the young blonde.

He managed to pull himself out of the ear hold Sakura had in him, "Yeah, you know that stupid cat is insane next time I see that thing I'm pinning it's hide to a wall."

"Naruto stop it!" Sakura told him making him flinch and cover his ear again.

"But Sakura-chan these missions are lame, I want to go on another C Rank mission again," Naruto whined to her. Even though they all remembered how the last mission had gone on, but after the time to heal from it they were all much better. They were back up to being able to do actual missions again and Naruto was getting antsy again.

"Oh come on," Kiba sighed and for the first time Naruto noticed them in the room.

Kiba turned to Kurenai, "Come on sensei they got to do a C Rank mission already and now they want another one. We're ready for this and we deserve a shot at least."

"Well actually it got bumped up to a B so officially we haven't actually been on a C Rank mission," Naruto told him smirking a little bit under his mask. He smirked a bit more at seeing Kiba's eyebrow to that tick thing when he was really getting mad too.

"See they already had a B so the C rank mission is ours short stuff," Kiba said to him.

"What did you call me?" Naruto yelled at him.

"You heard me runt," Kiba smiled knowing that Naruto was sensitive about his height. Some of the girls in their class had been taller than him and Kiba made sure that he never heard the end of it either. Besides it was run riling Naruto up too, just as he knew that Naruto did the same to him. It was just an odd thing the two of them did in their friendship to one another.

His sister often described the two of them as two dogs trying to get the alpha position while both trying to get a bone. That had been lost on Naruto when he heard it but to Kiba and anyone else in his clan that made perfect sense.

Kurenai and Kakashi shared a knowing look, they both knew how this could turn out and how Kiba and Naruto got when they were together for too long. First the name calling, then the arguing and then both boys would be soon on the ground trying out every grapple hold they could think of. Normally they would let the boys do it just to let them blow off energy but being in the Hokage's office was not the time and place for it.

"Naruto that's enough," Kakashi said using his 'father' tone of voice in order to get him to listen.

"Kiba back down now," Kurenai said almost like a command to a dog. When she first tried that tone she thought he might be insulted but his mother assured her that, that was how you had to handle him. And it normally worked as well, she guessed it was an Inuzuka thing. All that time spending with dogs she guess there would be some transference.

Now that she thought about it, she guessed the same was true with Shino and his clan as well. She never thought about that before and wondered if other clans in the ninja world that bonded with animals had the same thing going on with them as well. But that was something to think on at another time as Iruka cleared his throat after the boys had finally settled down.

"Well we only have one C Rank mission anyway and the pay for it only means one team can go," Iruka said looking at the file. "It's a simple bodyguard duty from here to the country of Wave."

"Well then we should get this since we haven't done a C Rank," Kiba said crossing his arms trying to make his point again.

"Hey no way, I'm getting stuck with stupid D Rank mission like said," Naruto shot back at the taller boy.

Iruka sighed, "I'm not sure either team should do this Hokage-sama. Given what happened the last time the genins went on a C Rank mission." He said referring to the mission Naruto had told Kiba about. He really liked these kids and he didn't want them to get hurt. He had seen how they were after the last mission and it was only now that Team 7 seemed to be back to normal.

The Hokage nodded his head knowing what he was talking about as well.

Although it wasn't uncommon for mission ratings to change, given what happened to Team 7 and the emotional shock that it gave them he was reluctant to give it to either team. Team 7 had just got over things and he wanted to make sure that they were truly alright. Then he had Team 8 who was still 'green' as it were in dangerous situations. So he wasn't sure if he should give this to either team or just assign a couple of chunin for it.

Naruto frowned behind his mask, he really wanted to go on a new mission so why couldn't they do this. He knew how the last mission went but if the client could only afford one team then how could he make sure his team was picked? He looked over at Team 8 and saw that Hinata was looking down at the floor deep in thought. He knew that expression on her face she was doing that self doubt thing again. Maybe she needed this mission as well, he knew that she had a need to prove herself just like he did but for her she had to do it for her entire clan.

"Hey Old Man, if the client can't pay for more what if we all split the pay between us?" Naruto asked.

The Hokage looked at the boy, "what do you mean?"

"Well what if both teams go and we all take half of the normal cost? I mean I don't really need the money and mostly everyone comes from a clan here except Sakura-chan and myself but I'm not hurting for cash like I said. Sakura-chan I know isn't either, what about the rest of you?"

There were a round of negatives from that, everyone from a clan usually had decent money anyway. Especially Hinata since her father was head of the most prestigious clan in the village as well. Sasuke had inherited everything from his clan as well too. So it really wasn't a question of money for them at all.

The Hokage thought about this, if they were willing to take a pay cut he could send both teams out. Since Team 8 needed more experience and Team 7 had the experience it would balance out, plus if things got too dangerous like last time they would have numbers on their side. They would also have two jonins with them as well. As he thought about it he also thought about how it would be to deal with the kids if he said no to them. Naruto and Kiba would be the most trouble and the last thing he needed was to deal with them acting out like that. Plus the client might feel a bit better about the number of ninja he was getting, so in the end he decided that it might be good to agree to the idea.

"Very well then I'll make this a joint mission between Teams 7 and 8." The Hokage said finally as he started on the paperwork.

The reactions varied although the genin looked pleased at the thought of going on this mission. Hinata herself felt great about this for two reasons, first was that she was going on her first C Rank mission. This would be her first real mission and first time outside of the village. The second was the fact she would be spending time with Naruto on the mission as well. She blushed a bit as she thought of that and she hoped that she could work up the courage to express her true feelings for him. For awhile now she had been wondering if she should or shouldn't say anything.

But a few days ago Naruto had been kind of depressed and when she asked why he told them about the sparring with Neji's team and how Sakura had said she was seeing Sasuke. She knew that Naruto had a crush on his team mate but although she felt bad that he was depressed over it, she knew now that with him not chasing after the girl anymore she had a chance now.

"So who is the client?" Kurenai asked breaking Hinata out of her thoughts.

"Ah yes, please send in Tazuna," the Hokage said.

A moment later the door opened and an old man with grey hair, a beard with glasses stepped out. He was dressed somewhat poorly and smelled strongly of alcohol as well. He staggered a bit showing that he had had been drinking before the meeting as he looked at the people in front of him. He seemed to be studying them and forming an opinion.

"Hn, a bunch of damn kids? The two adults I don't mind but what's with this, I thought I was paying for ninjas not a punch of wet behind the ears children." Tazuna said.

"Hey!" both Kiba and Naruto shot at the man as well as a cold look from Shino and a small glare from Sasuke as well. "We are ninja."

"Great a boy that smells like a dog and a midget in a mask thinking they are playing ninja," the old man sighed seeing the two boys.

Kakashi sighed at this, the mission hadn't even officially started and already he knew that this was going to be a very long one. He made a mental note to make sure he brought some aspirin as he could already tell that Kiba and Naruto would not get along with this man on the mission and it was a long way to Wave as well.

**-Later-**

By the large gates of Konoha both teams were getting ready, well the majority of them. There were still two members still not counted for and they were the Hatake men. So far both were an hour later and Kurenai was getting impatient. She remembered that Kakashi was generally late as some sort of personal rule for some reason. However she wasn't sure if Naruto picked up on that habit.

"Do you two have any idea where the Hatakes are?" Kurenai asked the two members of Team 7.

Sasuke just shrugged as Sakura looked a bit embarrassed for her late teammates.

"I honestly don't know, Naruto is usually one time but our sensei...well..." Sakura trailed off not sure what to say.

"Hey guys!"

Everyone looked to see Naruto walking with a backpack happily walking up to them. Kurenai looked at the young boy with her arms crossed as she walked up to him. He stopped when the women got in front of him, he knew that look. Anko got that look in her eyes too when she got annoyed with him. He gave a smile up to him closing both eyes making him look like a mini-Kakashi in a way.

"Where were you and where's your father?" Kurenai asked him.

"Don't know," Naruto shrugged. "I mean he's normally late so I decided to take it easy and get in some ramen before we left."

Naruto then looked to see the annoyed looks on his friends, "What? You all know my dad is always late so why bother showing up on time? He's got a system, unless it's life and death he won't be on time. If it's a mission he's usually an hour late and if it's training or something he can blow off for later he can go from two to three hours late. So instead of just waiting around for his lazy ass I went to get a snack."

Kurenai sighed pinching the bridge of her nose, although she hadn't had any missions with Kakashi before she knew his reputation and so she should have expected of this. It also didn't help that for the past hour they had to keep their client 'happy' while they waited. That was already giving her a migraine as the old man and Kiba were already at each other's throats.

"So your father should be here soon then?" she asked him.

"Yep, he shouldn't be too far away actually." He told her.

Naruto then saw Hinata and he needed someone to talk to, he'd been kind of depressed losing out to Sasuke and although he hadn't really talked with Sakura about it, he didn't feel up to talking with her. So he decided to walk over and join his best friend. He gave her a warm greeting as she blushed and greeted him back. Hinata was glad for this mission already, this would be the longest time she would ever spend with Naruto in her life and maybe on this trip she could finally work up the courage to talk to him. The two young teens started talking, mainly just about ordinary things although they were being watched by Kurenai slightly.

Kurenai was well aware of the young girl's feelings for the boy, and watching them now she could see just how badly the young girl had it. She remembered being at that age, so unsure of yourself and then when boys came into the picture things got very complicated. Looking at them she had to admit it was very cute image, it was just too bad that Naruto didn't seem to notice. Although how he never noticed was something that she couldn't figure out but then again Naruto seemed to have an odd intellect.

At some points he could catch on or figure things out in surprising ways, but sometimes he could be so dense it was frustrating. The boy was just totally unpredictable but there had to be a way to get him to listen. Also she wondered why not one bothered to tell him. Well Sasuke she reasoned didn't care, Sakura had her own reasons, Hianta's teammates she had asked too embarrassed if Naruto found out that she liked him. Kurenai shook her head at just how complicated things could get in relationships, but as Anko always told her that was part of the fun of it all.

Perhaps she could use this mission to help the young girl out. Hinata was turning out to be very precious to her, the young girl had such a pure heart that Kurenai couldn't help but care for her. She cared for her entire team and that was why she had been nervous about taking this mission, she didn't want to see them hurt. Maybe she shouldn't take things so easy on them, but this was her first team and her first job as a jonin.

It was then that finally Kakashi decided to show up, he gave some lame excuse as usual, but Kurenai just tuned him out. She knew the kinds of excuses he always had from meetings anyway and that they weren't true at all.

**-Hyuga Compound-**

Hiashi Hyuga was in his study working on several clan affairs that needed him to look at. Being a clan head was always a busy task. He had to not only have the usual political meetings and dinners with the elders and of course with certain business contacts that his clan dealt with. There was also the paper work such as request forms. New buildings to be created, more supplies needed, wages needed to be handed out and so on. Plus there were those that needed to be sent to the Hokage for missions that clients asked for their special talents specifically so he needed to send over those that fit the missions.

Some of his clan were already in the actual ninja forces like his daughter and nephew but not all their clan went through the academy. So some Hyuga although were trained as ninja, not all of them were actual ninjas. These were sometimes hired around the Hokage since none wanted any written information about them being hired and in turn the Hokage turned a blind eye as it were to this for ninjas trained persons who could be sent on missions that couldn't be labelled as official.

Plausible deniability in other words, but it did help with the clan's income other than from trading.

At the moment he was also looking at a marriage proposal between two members of the main branch. Apparently two members of the clan wanted to put their eldest children into an arranged marriage. Hiashi never was one for these but it was clan tradition and as head he had to uphold those traditions. So far everything was in order and he sighed it off, he just hoped the two children grew to love each other as these things were never made with the children's well being at heart.

That brought his thoughts to his two daughters, most times in the past both daughters would have been promised to someone already but many knew of Hinata's gentle nature so many thought she wasn't worthy. Another issue was that unless something happened to Hinata, Hanabi would be put into the branch house and no one in the main branch would want to enter into an agreement with someone on their way down. And no one in the branch would ever think of asking for the hand of someone in the main house.

Hiashi sighed at how the clan politics could get. Sometimes he wished to just wipe the slate clean but he couldn't. That was the reason he was pushing Hinata so hard, weakness in the clan even if it was just perceived as weakness had a way of making trouble for you. She was coming along but she still needed to catch up, or else something could happen that he didn't want to happen. If Hinata was found unfit to lead she would have the seal put on her and cast out of the main house and Hanabi be put in her place.

The trouble was if Hinata couldn't get strong enough before Hanabi was old enough, Hanabi would have the seal placed on her then with both daughters in the branch family and no heir things would get ugly for the clan. A new head of the clan would be made and among the main branch there was no clear succession, that would mean in fighting that could lead to a civil war with the Hyuga. He had to prepare and avoid that but his power could only give Hanabi a certain amount of time.

A knock on his door got his attention as he called whoever it was to enter. He saw his twin brother with his youngest daughter enter the room. She gave the formal bow as she entered with her uncle.

"Yes what is it?" he asked of them.

"I was just coming to inform you that I will be leaving the compound today," Hanabi said.

"Oh and why is that?" normally you didn't have to give reasons but given her position and what happened to Hinata years ago both daughters had to make it known when they were leaving and when they might be back for security reasons.

"I was just going to meet Konohamaru, he said he wanted me to meet two friends he made." She explained.

Hiashi ran the name through his mind and he remembered who that was, it was the Third Hokage's grandchild. He remembered that the young boy apparently had met the resident masked boy that had her eldest daughter's attention. From what he heard of the dinner conversations with the family the young boy seemed to be having a case of hero worship for Naruto.

"You seem to be seeing a lot of the boy lately," he said slightly judging the reaction out of her.

"H-he's my first friend father, at least outside of the clan. He's a nice boy and...he's fun," Hanabi wasn't sure what was going on with her father. But he seemed to be studying her for a bit.

"Very well then enjoy your time," he told her and she gave a small smile and bowed before leaving.

After she left Hizashi judged his elder brother for a bit before speaking, "What are you planning brother?"

"What do you mean?" he asked looking neutral at him.

"Don't give me that you never were able to lie to me," Hizashi smirked at him. "You're planning something."

"I'm thinking of seeing if the Sarutobi family would be interested in a possible union with Hanabi."

Hizashi's eyebrows lifted up to his brown, which for a Huyga was a very surprised expression. "You sure about this?"

"She knows the boy and seems to like him, I know it's not much but if they accept she doesn't have to go through with it." Hiashi told him. "If she was promised to a high ranking family like the Sarutobi then the elders wouldn't tare put the seal on her, it would be an insult to the Sarutobi family. It would protect her at least long enough to give Hinata time to become strong enough to lead and protect her sister."

Hizashi read the undertone there, he knew that his brother tried to save him from the fate of the seal that was on his brow now as well but he had failed in that. He never had any malice towards him but it was obvious that his elder twin still felt like he had failed his younger brother.

"Well it's a good plan and who knows, she may even fall for the boy. Anyways I just wanted to let you know that Hinata has left the village."

Hiashi nodded his thanks, he had been unable to see her off because of business but he silently hoped that his daughter would be okay. She was so much like his lost wife it hurt at times, but he had to remain strong. "I just hope this mission will help her. She still has a long way to so and time is starting to run out. Within a few years I might not be able to protect them anymore and they will have to learn to be strong and stand on their own."

Hizashi nodded his head gravely, he knew full well what he meant. He had been there when his son had gotten his seal and it hurt to see his son with that mark. Although at the time Neji didn't think much of it but he knew that at any time a main house member could give his son immense pain and the only reason it hadn't happened was because of how closely related Neji was to Hiashi.

"I pry for her save return and she is with the Hatake boy as well," Hizashi told him. "You know how he can always get her to try harder and reach new levels. Maybe on this mission he can help her find some more strength."

Hiashi nodded again, that was one thing he was hoping for as well. The boy was unpredictable and yet seemed to bring out the best in people. The boy also tried his hardest at everything and if he kept that up he could one day be a good suitor for his daughter. But he had to prove himself and already some of the elders didn't like the boy for what was inside of him. But so far Naruto had proven himself to a few when he save his daughter all those years ago. If he could keep that up, and if either he got a clue or if his daughter could tell him her feelings, things might work out.

He smiled sadly, knowing how much his wife would have loved to have been here to see this. But he could enjoy it for her in the meantime.

**Next up chapter 32: Trouble on the road**

**AN: I was wondering if you could help me out, I see that over eight hundred people have this story on their alerts but only a small fraction of that review. I would like to see exactly how many people are interested in this story so please if you read this review. Plus I want to see if I can overload my inbox lol. You don't have to but I just wanted to try it once as an experiment.**


	34. Trouble on the Road

**First off sorry for the wait I was on vacation, thanks to all the reviews my inbox didn't crash but I did get over one hundred reviews for the last chapter so thanks.**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 34: Trouble on the road**

Kurenai sighed to herself as she was walking in the lead with Kakashi, he was reading his book just like always. She didn't like the fact that he brought out that book in front of children let alone in front of his own son. She gave up on trying to get him to put it away, although she also had to worry about Naruto, Kiba and their client. Normally Naruto and Kiba argued out of their friendship but when you adding in Tazuna, with the amount of yelling and arguing those three did it was amazing that people from Water Country didn't hear them and they were an island nation far away.

Sometimes she wondered if she was a jonin sensei or a surrogate mother at times. Kakashi was little help although she had a suspicion that he was enjoying her uneasiness.

"Hey, Sasuke-Kun," Sakura asked as she walked up next to her teammate. "I was wondering after the mission you want to go on a date sometime?"

Sasuke sighed mentally he really didn't like it when Sakura acted like this. Why couldn't she act more like a real Kunoichi like the leader of team 8? Kurenai was the perfect example of the kind of ninja a female should be. Someone that was professional and powerful was the type of girl he looked for, but apparently there were none in his age group. Although that Tenten girl he met was pretty close to the type he looked for. But he wasn't exactly looking for any type of relationship just yet he still needed to get stronger.

He had been getting stronger but he still wasn't good enough to take down Itachi.

Sasuke noticed that she was waiting for an answer, "Remember that favor you owe me for pretending to be your boyfriend in front of that weird guy in green?"

"Oh yeah," Sakura had actually hoped he forgot but whatever it was she would do it. After all she gave her word and one thing she admired about Naruto was that he always kept his word. Besides if she went back on her word, how could anyone trust her ever again?

Sasuke looked at her seriously, "In return for that favor I don't want you to ever ask me out again...ever."

He walked off leaving Sakura behind who had just stopped in her tracks. She felt so crushed at that moment as her whole body just seemed to sag. She couldn't believe that he had just asked her for that, she had to do it as it was the favor but she never expected him to do something like that. She started walking again when she saw that she was going to get left behind but her mind was elsewhere at the moment. Had she just lost any change with Sasuke now?

'Why doesn't he like me?' Sakura wondered.

'Damn it we should never had made that deal!' Inner Sakura screamed out.

'Does he not like me? I mean does...does he think that I'm ugly or something?' Sakura asked herself. She was thinking of her forehead and still remembered all the teasing she had gotten from it when she had been younger. Did he think that her forehead made her look like a freak? All the old self doubts started to rise up in her again, even after all this time there was a part of her that was still that scared little girl with no friends who ended up going home crying from being bullied. Ino had helped her to grow out of it mostly as had her other friends but it was hard to get over some complexes.

She walked on in silence as the self doubts started to eat away at her confidence.

Hinata was with Naruto and she was beaming on the inside, she couldn't believe that she was on a mission with him. Although at the moment he seemed to be sulking after Kurenai basically made sure that he and Kiba were in opposite ends of the column with their client in the middle. She smiled at how he was childishly crossing his arms and she knew he was pouting behind his mask.

"I can't believe we're being treated like kids," Naruto muttered to himself. "It's that old drunk's fault anyway he keeps calling me short, I'm not short! I just haven't hit my growth spur yet and when I do I'll be as tall as dad and then people will stop calling me short."

Hinata giggled at this and Naruto turned his attention back to her.

He smiled at her if there was one nice thing on this trip it was that he had his best friend here. He felt more at ease with her around here as well. He was thinking about something and maybe she could help him out.

"Hey Hinata-chan, can I ask you something from a girl's point of view?"

"Huh? O-okay what is it, Naruto-kun?"

He scratched the back of his head, "Well...I know some things about girls but apparently I don't know enough."

He had read through his dad's collection and although a few things still caused him to blush red and it was how he had learned about the birds and bees from, he learned how to flirt, how to compliment but given he had lost Sakura to Sasuke he thought that he must have been missing something.

"What do girls really like in a boy? I mean how can you get a girl to like you?"

Hinata blushed red all over her face at this, she started to fidget with her fingers again as she looked down at the ground.

"W-well it's different for each girl. Some like strong boys, others like s-sensitive types, others like those that are carrying," Hinata told him.

Naruto sighed as this was more complicated then he thought, although he most likely had a better idea than most boys his age on some things to do with girls he still didn't understand them. It would be years later when he finally figured out that no man could figure out a female totally. But at this point he was just trying to figure out why he lost out to Sasuke. Listening to Hinata made it seem that maybe he just wasn't Sakura's 'type'.

Although why she liked emo-jerks with littler personality he never understood. He just sighed in defeat that maybe he and Sakura weren't meant to be although he would still be there for her like all friends he would stop bugging her about things like dates. She always gave him a 'maybe' but nothing much more than that. Maybe it was best to just be friends with her and that was why she did that, she didn't want to ruin their friendship.

Naruto felt like slapping his face, '_So that's why she never went out with me. She didn't want to ruin our friendship. It's like with me and Hinata-chan, she wouldn't want me to ruin our friendship either. Man I should have thought of this earlier now it all makes sense. She's not friends with Sasuke really so she went after him but we've been friends for years.'_

'_But now what I'm I going to do? I mean I didn't know girls like different types of guys so how do I know what types there are? I know, I'll ask Hinata what she likes in a boy that will give me an idea!'_

"Hey Hinata-chan what types of boys do you like?" Naruto asked.

"W-what?!" she said her eyes widening.

"I just want to know what you like in a boy," Naruto told her.

Hinata's heart was racing as her mind started to work out why he was asking. _'Is he asking me because he wants to know if I like him? Does he really like me and he wants to make me notice him? What do I tell him?'_

Hinata was fidgeting a bit more as she was really nervous at this point. She eventually decided on just going with how she felt about Naruto, what she liked about him.

"W-well I like boys that are caring to their friends, who always stand up for them and is always there for them. I-I like boys that are fun to be around with good sense of humor and who always make those around them happy. I-I like boys who are courageous and strong too."

Naruto thought about that, he tried to think of someone like that but he was coming up with a blank. He didn't know anyone like that unless it was someone in the Hyuga Clan or a village boy. He wasn't sure why but the thought of some mysterious boy that Hinata liked didn't sit well with him. Then he thought about Hinata kissing some boy and he felt his jaw clench for some reason. He blinked a few times and pushed the thoughts aside, he didn't understand why he felt like that as she was just a friend, right?

As the group walked on Kurenai noticed a puddle of water on the road, normally it wouldn't be odd but it was the only one on the road and there hadn't been any rain for three days. She focused on it and noticed the illusion wrapped around it. She tensed as she was getting ready to strike when she felt Kakashi's fingers on her hand. She felt his fingers start to quickly tap out a message, it was one of the few ways a ninja would communicate with each other when they couldn't talk.

The message was short but when she put it together in her head her eyes snapped to him. She couldn't believe that he wanted to test out their teams like that. He didn't show any signs of anything other than reading his book. Kurenai was thinking of going against it but then the thought of why he would do this to his own team came into her mind. After their last big mission it took time for his genins to heal and so then the real reason he wanted them not to interfere hit her. He needed to see if his team was truly ready to be back in the field.

You could prepare all you want but unless they actually faced real danger he couldn't tell if they were over the last mission. She also thought of her own team, Kakashi's had gone through something nasty for the first time and she didn't want her own team to go through that. She eventually came to the decision to let Kakashi do it his way for now, but the moment things got too dangerous she was stepping in.

Just as they were passing the puddle that was when the two ninjas struck, they liked to have been known as the Demon Brothers a couple of rogue ninja from Mist. They have been told the old man had gone to Konoha for help, at first they were worried but the old man wouldn't have enough for a jonin or a more experienced team. When they saw two genin teams they decided to stick with the original plan. They would have to take out the two jonins fast, if they didn't they wouldn't stand a chance. So as soon as the kids teachers were in range they jumped out, they liked to used poisoned tipped claws with a razor sharp chain connecting them.

As twins they had always fought together and their teamwork was top notch. Their chain managed to get the two jonin and they ripped them apart.

It turned into pure chaos after that, people yelled out as it was nothing but confusion at the moment. One of the Demon Brothers took sight of Hinata. The young girl had never been in a real combat or real danger like this. She suddenly had a flashback to when she had been kidnapped as a small child, she remembered how scared she had been and she just froze. The brother chuckled to himself as he saw an easy kill and ran at the girl.

"Hinata, get down!" Naruto yelled at her but she was frozen solid. She wanted to move but her body wouldn't let it. Naruto's father told him all kinds of stories on how some people react to their first time in danger. Hinata had frozen and if he didn't do anything she was going to die. He jumped at her, grabbing her with his arms as he pulled her to the ground with him, he grunted feeling something slice his forearm but he didn't pay any attention to it.

"Hinata are you okay?" he asked still protecting her.

Hinata looked at him as he focus came back into reality. She nodded her head and Naruto nodded back as he quickly got up and pulled out the sword on his back getting ready for a fight.

Kiba already had to dodge one of the enemy ninja as Akamaru tried to bite down on the leg of that ninja. He quickly jumped back and tried to kick the small white dog but he was faster and jumped out of the way. Kiba tried to get in close with his kunai but the man blocked it with his claws and was suddenly pulled back by his partner. The ninja sailed through the air as he went to attack another in their party. Sakura found herself between the razor chain between the two ninja, she quickly got out her tonfas and placed them up in front of her, with the length of the weapon running parallel with her arms. They protected her arms as the chain grinded against the metallic weapons, making sparks fly out. She had to close her eyes to protect them.

Shino raised an arm and from the loose sleeve of his grey coat many tiny black insects started to fly out. Like Kiba's clan and their dogs, he had a mental link with his bugs and told them to attack and drain the two of them of their chakra.

Sasuke was already attacking them with his own sword but the brothers were proving a little faster than he was, he wanted to take off the weights on himself but the enemy weren't giving him a change so he just kept up with the attacks. He activated his eyes as they turned into the red Sharingan that his clan was known for, the moments of his enemies became easier to see and predict. Everything became sharper and clearer when he used his eyes like this, and it was with this he noticed Naruto making hand seals and not just any ones either.

'_He can't be serious in using that,'_ he thought to himself.

"Everyone clear the area!" Sasuke gave them a warning.

There were a few that weren't certain why Sasuke said that but they moved out of the area anyway because they all figured out something was up. Naruto finished his jutsu as he made a couple of clones, and to those that knew him that was odd as he usually made a gang of them. The two clones each went after one of the brothers. They didn't see much point in worrying and tried to attack the clones, what they didn't know was that although Naruto could make a huge number of shadow clones it took a lot more energy to make exploding shadow clones.

The two clones exploded sending the twin ninja brothers off flying, although they flew in two different directions the chain that connected them snapped them back together as they slammed back into each other in mid air and landed onto the ground. It was actually kind of funny and if it wasn't a life and death fight the kids might have found it pretty funny.

"Did you kill them?" Sakura asked Naruto looking at the smoking ninja.

"I don't think so," Naruto said to her looking at the bodies. Although he got over killing that last ninja he didn't want to have to do it again too soon.

When they heard a groan coming out of the two of them and saw them move they figured out they were still alive. With them down it was easy for Shino to command his bugs to swam them and eat up enough of their chakra so they wouldn't pose a threat anymore.

"Jeez, Naruto give us some warning before you do something like that," Kiba told him.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Heh, sorry about that but hey we got them right?"

"B-but what about Kurenai and Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata asked worried.

"What about us?"

Everyone turned to see Kakashi leaning up against a tree with Kurenai standing next to him.

"Y-you're alive!?" Kiba was shocked by it.

"Kiba, didn't you notice the replacement technique we both used?" Kurenai said pointing to the pieces of wood that were where the remains of their 'bodies' should have been. Kiba smacked himself in the face and groaned, he had been so taken by surprise he hadn't noticed that they had replaced themselves with the wood at the last moment. That move had saved countless ninja from nearly dying a lot of time through history.

"Now then I think you all did a good job," Kakashi said. He was proud of how well his team had done, they seemed to have gotten over the last hard mission. He got out a piece of rope from his backpack as he walked over to the brothers.

"Now I think it's time we deal with the two of them," Kakashi said.

When the two Demon Brothers were tied up everyone was gathering their things. Akamaru was walking up to the two ninja, something was off about their scent that he had noticed. There was a strong odour about them. He started to sniff and the strange scent seemed to be only on the claws, while his master trained as a ninja, he too was trained by the older dogs of the pack. They told him what to sniff out, what harmful scents were as well as other things. Akamaru didn't know what type it was, but he could smell the poison on the metal.

He turned to his master and barked out the warning.

Kiba turned to look at his partner, like all of his clan they had a bond with their animals. It was kind of like a bloodline ability in a way how they bonded with their dogs that allowed a deeper understanding with them and of other dogs in their clan had.

"What do you mean poison?" Kiba asked as his puppy yelped out a few more times. "Hey Kurenai-sensei! Akamaru says these guys had poison on their claws."

"Everyone, was anyone hurt?" Kurenai asked them all.

Naruto looked at the place where he had been hit protecting Hinata, he hadn't noticed with the adrenaline going but he was cut. He wasn't sure if he should be worried or not, he knew that the stupid fox inside of him healed injuries but he had never been poisoned before.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried out seeing him look at the bleeding wound. She automatically went to check on it as she was more worried than nervous at this point. She knew that he had gotten that protecting her. Because she had hesitated he had been hurt, all that she was thinking was that it was her fault because she still wasn't strong enough.

Kurenai and Kakashi walked over as they watched Naruto roll up his sleeve of his shirt to show the wound. Kakashi looked at it as Hinata got out the medical supplies.

"Well it looks like we're going to have to get Naruto an antidote, but I'm not carrying any anti-poisons on me, how about your team Kurenai?" Kakashi asked her. She shook her head as her team didn't carry that, she didn't think it would be that dangerous and some ninja used special poisons that needed a medical facility to cure.

"So what does that mean?" Kiba asked.

"It means we'll have to go back to Konoha to get him cured," Shino said.

Kiba didn't take well to that, it was his team's first big mission and he wanted to complete it, Shino didn't say much but you could somewhat tell the bug user wasn't too happy with the thought of failing the mission as well. Sasuke scowled at going back, he didn't say anything but the boy looked like he didn't like this anymore than anyone else.

Naruto could see this and looked at the wound on his arm, he could remember a few ways to deal with poison and there was one thing he could do. He didn't want to turn back either, they had a job to do and he always saw things to the end. They didn't run when things got tough last time and although the ending of that mission was something he would carry for the rest of his life, he had grown from it.

"No we're not going back," Naruto said loudly getting everyone's attention. "We took on this mission and we're not quitting because I don't quit. We agreed to protect him and take the old drunk home and I'm not going to be the one that makes us fail this mission."

He drew out a kunai and stabbed it into his forearm to the shock of everyone there. The blood slowly started to flow out of the wound as the poison was being drained out of it. He learned this trick from stories from his dad's day in ANBU and from a lesson at school. Although it did hurt, he could take the pain.

"I swear that I will never fail, that I'll always go on no matter what," Naruto said using his own blood as a way to seal his own deal with himself.

Kakashi blinked a few times and smiled under his mask, Naruto sure was surprising and he was proud of his son's attitude. He always did see things through to the end no matter what, although now he was wondering what the bridge builder wasn't telling them. Those two had been chunin level ninja and someone doesn't hire that kind of ninja for a simple old man.

"Well Naruto that's all well and good, but you might want to put a bandage on that before you bleed to death," Kakashi said off headedly.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at his bleeding arm for a second. "AH! Someone get me something to stop it with!"

He said frantically as Hinata tried to use the medical supplies she had on him. It wasn't easy to calm Naruto done and for Hinata to use the bandages and medical salve she had on her. Kurenai just wasn't sure what to make of Naruto, at one moment he was like a different person and then he could switch at the drop of a hat. She had known him for a bit but Anko knew him better than she did, she sighed as she let Hinata dress the boy's wound. She noticed that Kakashi was motioning her over to him.

So she walked over to him as he then spoke to her in a soft voice.

"I think we should have a talk with our client."

Her eyes hardened as she nodded and they both looked at the old man. She too had figured out that there was more going on here than he had told them about and she wanted answers. This was supposed to be a simple C Ranked mission and now it was already a getting close to a B Rank, something wasn't right here and she wanted to know what they had gotten themselves into.

They walked up to their client as Kakashi gave him a solid hard look with his single eye, he may be a lazy jonin at times but when things were serious you would have hard pressed to find someone as good, powerful or as scary as Kakashi when he got serious.

"I think we need to have a little talk with you, Tazuna." Kakashi said in a cold tone.

The old man looked at the jonin and then to Kurenai who had an equally cold and hard look in her red eyes. He swallowed knowing that he had lied about being protected by only bandits, he would have to tell them everything now and he only hoped that they wouldn't just leave him on the road undefended. If they did, he didn't have enough money to hire anymore ninja and he would never make it back home.

"Alright," he sighed as they led him off to the side for a talk.

Hinata was finishing up taking care of Naruto's injury, she was putting the final touches on the dressing on his arm. Naruto smiled a little at how much care she was taking with it, although he knew by now that the stupid fox would most likely have healed up his injury he didn't want to have to tell her why she didn't have to worry. She actually wasn't bad at this and the salve she put on did help ease the pain too.

"You're pretty good at this Hinata-chan," He told her.

She blushed and her hands shook a little but she managed to finish. "N-Naruto-kun...I'm...I'm sorry."

"Huh? Sorry for what?"

"B-because of me you got hurt." She looked down not meeting his eyes. She just focused on helping him she was still a burden it seemed. Her first time out and she froze and Naruto ended up hurt because of it. She thought she had improved but when everyone needed her she had failed them.

"Hinata what happened can happen to anyone, my dad told me countless times that he's seen people do the exact same thing first time in a real battle." Naruto told her.

"You didn't," she whispered looking down as she finished her work.

"Yes, I did." He told her gently. She looked up in shock, she couldn't believe that Naruto of all people had frozen. He started to explain the first time he really had been scared. "When I was little a couple of bad guys tried to kidnap me too, Uncle Gai saved me but I was scared. I couldn't sleep alone and had nightmares for a long time after it. It took me time but I got over it but it's something I can never forget it either."

"N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata trailed off, she never knew that the same thing that had happened to her had happened to him. He never really talked about his life before they met, he kept saying that it wasn't important.

Then Naruto looked at her smiling with both eyes closed, "Anyways so all you have to do is get stronger, you fall you just pick yourself up and keep trying. You never give up because if you do then you can't get better and I know you won't let the same thing happen again."

She smiled at him and gave him a small nod, he always made her feel better about herself and for some strange reason she always felt she could become a better person with his help. Just then the adults returned with Tazuna looking like a dog that got scolded by its owner. Both Kurenai and Kakashi told the old man to tell their teams exactly what he told them.

The old man sighed as he told them that he didn't have enough money to hire more protection and had lied about the dangers. He was building a bridge to connect his land with the mainland, it would improve the economy and lots of the land's resources were going into this project. A criminal named Gato had a strangle hold on his land, he was bleeding them dry. This bridge was the only way to help the country as they couldn't rid themselves of the man. He was on his way back to complete the bridge and had found out that Gato had hired people to kill him.

Without him the bridge would never be built and his people would never get out from under Gato's control.

With the story out of the way, Kakashi asked both teams if they wanted to continue the mission. They had been lied to about what the mission was so they were within their rights to refuse the mission now. But Naruto didn't like that one bit, he stood up and said that he'd never back down from a mission no matter what happened. Kiba was just as eager as well and he too wanted to continue, Sasuke nodded his head as he didn't feel like quitting as well. Sakura looked a bit uncertain but with both team members for it she couldn't abandon them so she agreed too. Shino gave a silent nod and Hinata didn't want to keep going as well. She needed to prove to herself that she could do this, if she couldn't then she didn't deserve to be a ninja.

Kurenai sighed, she knew that she couldn't talk them out of it but she did convince Kakashi to send one of his summon dogs back to the village with a message. One to have hunter nins or ABNU to come and pick up the Demon Brothers and to inform the Hokage that the mission seemed to be a bit more than it was. She just hoped that she didn't live to regret the decision to continue this mission.

**Next up Chapter 35: Mist and Ice**

**Yep the famous meeting with Zabuza and Haku, first off you should know that I will never write Haku as a girl. He's a boy, why so many people are uncomfortable with him as a boy I'll never know but that's one thing you'll never see me do. Also the next part I'm going to try and do something with a bit of a twist.**


	35. Mist and Ice

**Sorry for the wait, had a shoulder injury and I wasn't sure how to go about this. I had a few ways of dealing with this but I think I got a good idea now where to take it.**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 35: Mist and Ice**

The teams made their way on to Tazuna's home, after the encounter with that last group of ninja they were being a bit more on guard this time around. Little was said on their way to the village, although he told them they would need to hire a boat to get them to his village as the bridge of course wasn't completed enough for them to travel on. They mainly tried to keep going on being quit hoping not to draw out too much attention.

The atmosphere was a bit tense as they made their way they entered into a forested area that was near the large body of water that separated Wave country. There was a dirt road that they were taking it was an old trade route to the country although no one really used it anymore thanks to Gato. Kakashi didn't like to take this route as it was too exposed but Tazuna wasn't a ninja and would only slow them down if they tried another method. He just hoped that because this route was old any forces wouldn't be watching it.

Naruto was looking around the forest, he didn't want to get surprised like last time and this time he would be a bit more ready. He cast a worried look to Hinata and he knew that she had trouble believing in herself although he didn't know why. She was one of the strongest Kunoichi that he knew in their age range, she was the daughter of the head of one of the most powerful clans, and she had her family's bloodline and fighting style. She had a lot more going for her than most of the females in their class so he didn't see the problem.

He was wondering what to say to her but wasn't sure since as he didn't know what the exact problem was. He looked to see Kiba and Akamaru sniffing around for trouble, Shino looked calm and relaxed but that wasn't new. Sasuke looked like he actually wanted a fight and Naruto was eager to get into a fight as well but when he saw Sakura he noticed that she had been looking depressed lately.

He would have asked her what was wrong but his dad said they had to try and be silent from this point on and so he never could get the chance. He didn't like the quit, although his dad kept telling him that silence was a good friend to a ninja he just never liked it, it just went against who he was really.

He sighed as they walked along the road until he noticed a rustling in the bushes, at first he thought it was an animal but it was a bit big to be one. It had to be someone waiting for them and he slowly went to his weapons pouch on his leg.

"Got ya!" he shouted as he threw the kunai into the bushes startling everyone there.

Everyone turned to see what was going on, only to see a small little white rabbit hop out of the bushes.

"Oh man Naruto you need to loosen up some," Kiba laughed.

"Naruto how could you!?" Sakura yelled at him, "It was a harmless bunny rabbit!"

"N-Naruto-Kun!" Hinata agreed as she watched the little white bunny hoping along. She hoped that Naruto hadn't hurt the little rabbit. It was a cute little thing and she bent down towards it, the little white rabbit seemed to regard her for a moment before slowly going towards her. She was surprised at this the rabbit seemed to be a tame animal and not some wild one. Hinata was thinking someone might have lost a pet as she slowly petted the small animal.

"I think he likes you," Sakura said smiling at the cute little animal. Hinata smiled as she dug into her backpack for something for it to eat. She found some small baby carrots she took for some snack food as sometimes people didn't take the right kinds of foods with them on missions. She knew that Naruto would have carried a lot of instant ramen on him and she made sure that he at least ate something good for him at times.

She handed the small carrot to the animal as it sniffed it and slowly started to eat the offered food. Hinata giggled feeling its whiskers tickling her hand.

Kurenai sighed knowing that look the young girl would most likely want to keep it now. At least Akamaru didn't seem to mind the other animal. She was thinking of saying something when she noticed how hard Kakashi was staring at the rabbit.

"What?"

"Haven't you noticed that the rabbit is tame?" He asked her and she looked at it.

It was odd but it could have been a pet but there had to be more to it than that to get Kakashi so intent on it. It was just a small white rabbit so...wait, it was white? They were in the wrong part of the land and the wrong season for white rabbits to show up. The only way both odd things about the rabbit would happen is if someone kept it around for something like...substitution.

"Everyone down!" Kakashi yelled out and quickly everyone went down.

A huge wind seemed to fly just over their heads although it wasn't the wind exactly but the after effect of a giant sword being flung through the air just missing them all. Everyone turned to see the sword being caught by a tall man. He wore no shirt, but his mouth was covered in bandages, there were some type of camo style clothing on his arms and although he looked strong he wasn't like a bodybuilder and yet he swung the giant eight foot long blade like it was nothing.

Kakashi and Kurenai's eyes widened as they recognized the man right away.

"Well I was wondering what happened to the Demon Brothers and look what I found. Two genin teams, guess the old man got a bit more protection than I was told he could afford. And I see we have Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja of Konoha as well." He said in a cold killer's voice. He looked to Kurenai studying her for a bit.

"I don't know who you are though."

Kurenai wasn't sure if she should be thankful a killer like this didn't know her or insulted. "I'm Kurenai Yuhi."

"Hmmm...might have heard of you after all," He said thinking on the name.

Kurenai knew that she was still a rookie jonin but she had worked hard to get where she was now and if there was one thing she hated it was a lack of respect. But she wouldn't let him goad her into any unnecessary actions either she had a team of genin to think about. She and Kakashi could take him one but the kids were in no way ready for this kind of monster.

There was also the amount of killer intent that the man was giving off, it was a lot of it too. Kurenai felt her teeth on edge just by being this close to him and the look in his eyes were just as scary. They were dark and totally menacing as well.

Back with the genins they too were feeling the killing intent of the man. For Team 8 who had never felt anything like this before it was a shock for a bit. Akamaru whined as he took a few steps back, and Shino could feel the bugs inside of his body were very agitated by it. The others weren't doing too well too, that is until Naruto did what naturally came to him, he started shouting.

"Come on there's only one of him and eight of us!" Naruto shouted. He heard a growling and looked to see Akamaru glaring at him. "Opps, sorry I mean nine."

"Naruto, don't you remember all those times I made you study my bingo book?" Kakashi yelled back to him not taking his eyes off their opponent. "This is Zabuza, a missing nin from the Mist Village."

Naruto thought about it, his dad for the last year made him study the bingo book like it was extra homework. He had asked why he had to study it and his dad had simply told him that a good ninja knew the kind of enemies he might randomly face out there. Information about an opponent ahead of time could allow you an advantage and a ninja took every advantage they could get in a fight. So Naruto had studied it and his dad even told him some stories about them too.

"Uh...let me think," Naruto had remembered a lot of stuff in there but he was trying to place the name. "Oh I remember now, Zabuza also known as the Demon of the Mist right?"

"Demon of the Mist?" Kiba asked him.

"Oh yeah, why was he called that again?" Naruto thought trying to remember.

"Naruto, he was called that because the Mist village used to be called the Blood Mist village," Kakashi said still keeping an eye on the man in front of them. "Their genin exams were different than other villages, at the end each student was put up against another to a fight to the death. All year round they were comrades and friends but in the end they would end up killing at least one of them or die by one of them at the end of their training."

"Oh I remember that now," Naruto said as it brought back memories of Anko once using that as a bedtime story. He hadn't slept at all that night thanks to her, "And he got that name Demon of the Mist because...uh oh..."

"What?" Sakura asked him not liking the look on his face.

"I got that name because I killed my entire class," Zabuza said as if he was proud of it.

"That's right," Kurenai said knowing the story as well. "One year only one student was alive and it was him, after that they changed the testing but everyone remembers the one student that massacred his entire genin class."

Sasuke tensed up at hearing this, this man sounded like his brother Itachi. If he ever had a chance to see what kind of ninja his brother was this was a good way to judge. This Zabuza had an air about him, the killing intent that was coming off the man was insane and he could feel the fear in his heart. He checked and noticed the others were starting to feel the effects of it as well. Akamaru was whimpering with his head down at the man, he could see sweat showing off of several of them as well.

"Everyone, I want you to protect our client let Kurenai and myself handle him," Kakashi ordered.

"Yes Kakashi-sensei," Shino said as he looked to Hinata and Kiba as they took up defensive positions around the man. Naruto didn't want to but he held back with the others and his team took up defensive options as well.

Zabuza looked at the area around them and he didn't like this at all, the two jonin would he trouble. Kakashi was about his level but he didn't know about the woman, she looked seasoned in combat and sure of herself but he wasn't sure what type of ninja she was. The kids were already defending the old man and he would have to get by the two adults. If it was just one jonin he wouldn't mind the exercise but as one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist he knew his limits.

His eyes narrowed as he thought about his options and he might have to play his trump card early. His partner, Haku was waiting in the trees in case he couldn't finish the job he was to hit him in spots with his senbon needles that when hitting him would simulate death. He already had a mask from a ninja hunter from Mist that they had killed earlier that had tried to kill him. After all he had tried to kill his Mizukage in a failed coup d'état and had hunter nins after his ass since then.

Haku had just been a young boy with talents that he picked up on his travel and was a good tool for him to use. The only problem was that the boy was still too soft for his own good, but it would look like he would need him anyway.

"Haku! Get out here and deal with the kids while I deal with the adults!"

'He's got a partner?' Kakashi thought as he heard someone leap out of the trees behind them, he just hoped that they could handled whoever it was.

The genin teams were surprised when a boy not much older than them jumped out to meet them. He was tall and thin but he wore robes so they couldn't be sure, he also wore a mask of some kind that they hadn't seen before.

"I'm sorry but I have to fight you," the boy said in a soft voice.

"Yeah, well we're not. Go Akamaru!" Kiba shouted out as his dog ran forward to meet the ninja.

Haku saw the duo and quickly threw out several senbon needles, normally these weren't used as ninja weapons as they were very thin and a critical hit was hard to do. But to him they were a perfect weapon and his aim was always great. With lightning speed he threw the needles at the boy and the dog, both were surprised as they fell back in pain as the needles hit their bodies.

"What the hell!?" Kiba shouted out pulling out the needles. "Guys, cover me while I get Akamaru!"

He ran to his dog to pull out the needles as Shino raised his arms, the insects came out to meet the strange ninja. Haku saw them coming and Shino noticed that the masked boy made one handed seals. This surprised him as he never heard of anyone just using one hand to make seals before. But before he could think on what he could be doing a block of ice jutted out of the ground. Yet again this was another surprise.

'_How could he have done that?'_ Shino thought as it was his turn to dodge senbon needles as he redirected his bugs around the ice. _'Ice isn't a normal elemental attack. Could this be a water type? No, it doesn't feel like it, the only thing I can think of that even comes close was the First Hokage's ability to use wood. Is this the same? Is this a bloodline ability to make ice?'_

Even thought Shino was the quite type he had top grades in class, it wasn't too difficult to get an idea that this boy used some kind of ice ability but bloodlines like this were rare. He also didn't know what his full abilities meant. Unlike his, everyone in his clan had the same abilities or like in Hinata's but when you ran into someone with a unique bloodline you weren't sure what to expect. It left you at a disadvantage.

"Everyone be careful, he's got some kind of ice abilities," Shino called out.

Meanwhile with the adults, Zabuza smirked under the bandages over his mouth. "So here we are, I think I'll enjoy this. I wonder if Haku will kill them before or after I kill you two?"

"Don't underestimate our teams," Kurenai said to him.

"Oh? I'll tell you this if the boy's heart was as cold as his ice he could have surpassed me by now in everything. As it stands he's more than a match for anyone, I've trained him since a small boy and he's the most advance tool I've ever used."

"A child is not a tool," Kurenai said.

"Fool, we're all tools, all ninjas are just tools to be used and discarded." He laughed at her face.

Kakashi didn't like the sounds of this, he knew that his team was above an average team and they had handled some rough moments before. But a boy that Zabuza himself trained gave him a bad feeling, he and Kurenai needed to take him out quickly and make sure the others were okay.

"Well then I guess it's time to get serious," Kakashi said as he lifted his protector and uncovered his Sharingan eye.

"So the famous Sharingan, huh? I've always wanted to see it in action, guess that means you really are serious. Very well then so will I," He said started to make hand seals.

"Don't let him finish!" Kakashi yelled out and Kurenai ran forward.

Zabuza jumped back as he cried out 'hidden mist jutsu' and suddenly a thick mist started to show up all over the place. Kurenai lost him for a moment but dodged back feeling the wind of his blade coming towards her. She jumped back with Kakashi as he was looking around just as she was.

"Heart, lungs, liver, brain, throat." A voice came from the mist. "These are just some of the ways to kill a person in one move."

"What's he doing?" Kurenai softly asked.

"Zabuza is a master of the silent killing technique," Kakashi told her seriously looking for the man. Suddenly a form came at them. Kakashi got his kunai up and just managed to block the sword coming at him but he could feel the pain in his limbs from stopping the force of the blow. He was also certain his kunai would break if he tried that again. Kurenai didn't wait time and ran below the blade and stabbed him in the chest with her own kunai. But to her surprise he just turned into water and fell into the ground.

"Water clones?" She asked out loud.

Kakashi nodded and he couldn't hear them but he had a bad idea. "Teams 7 and 8, there could be more coming towards you!"

Kurenai looked shocked at him as she knew why he warned them, Zabuza could be also sending clones to help this Haku person as well.

The genins were starting to form up, they had to protect their client but also they had to deal with the ninja in front of them. It might not have been so bad, that is until a thick mist started to show up around them. Zabuza's mist was thick enough to mask a person from sight unless were at least fifteen feet in front of them, this made long range attacks useless but it still affected Haku.

"What the hell is going on?" Naruto shouted out.

"How the hell should we know?" Sasuke asked irritated.

"Hinata, can you see what's going on?" Kiba asked his teammate.

Hinata nodded even though he couldn't see him. She closed her eyes and activated them, the veins protruding slightly from her skull as she opened her eyes. With them she could see through the mist but she gasped out loud. There were more than just one ninja now, she called out to them to be careful of this.

Kiba had pulled out the last of the senbon needles as Hinata let out a warning. He couldn't smell anything but Akamaru could hear sense something and barked out a warning as he jumped back as a huge blade hit the ground where he was. He couldn't believe how close that came, he put Akamaru on his head and pulled up the hood of his jacket to keep him tucked in until he could walk again.

"Well buddy looks like this is going to get interesting," Kiba said to his small dog.

Hinata found herself with Sakura as they were guarding the client.

"Hinata, warm us if someone is coming okay?" Sakura said with her tonfas out and ready. Hinata scanned the area feeling very nervous as was Sakura only less so. The amount of killing intent that was being sent out was chilling to the bone.

Hinata looked and her eyes widened as a large form was coming towards them, she yelled out as it came at them. Sakura was closer and held up her weapons in defensive as the massive sword hit into her metal weapons, the jarring force of it made her arms numb. She felt a swift kick to her stomach as well as she hit the ground but she rolled with it and jumped up back into a defensive move. She saw the shape of the ninja coming at her as she dodged and tried to swing one of her weapons back at him but he dodged them.

Hinata saw all of this but didn't move, at least not at first. She remembered how she had done nothing and Naruto had gotten hurt because of her. She was now watching Sakura and the other girl could get killed and she couldn't move her body. But she thought about all her friends fighting and how they could die without help. She had to help them, she couldn't afford to be weak at this moment.

'I won't let them down again, not this time.' Hinata thought to herself.

With that she launched herself at the Zabuza water clone, he noticed the girl and went to cut her in two. Hinata easily ducked under it and it was enough time for Sakura to hit the taller man in the back of the knees with her tonfas, the man growled out as he dropped to his knees. Hinata took her shot and placed several palm strikes to his chest making the clone dissipate into water.

Sakura gave Hinata a thankful smile and Hinata smiled back feeling better that this time she had managed to help instead of just freezing up like last time.

"Hinata can you also tell the others what to do if they need help?"

Hinata nodded her head, "Shino, Kiba-kun needs help he's over to your left."

"Naruto-kun, there's someone behind you!" Hinata shouted out.

Naruto turned and pulled up his family sword to block a blade, only to find himself flung back a few feet from the huge sword.

"Oh man that's a big sword," Naruto muttered as what looked like Zabuza charged at him. He jumped back from the Mist ninja and putting the sword down for a second started to make several of his own clones. "Alright ugly try and take on all of us!"

The clones charged the other clone, but the massive sword cut through most of the clones. "If that's all you got kid, you're going to die very soon."

"Oh yeah well I don't die so easily!" Naruto shouted out making more and more clones.

"Kid this is pathetic," the Zabuza clone said killing all the clones easily enough. What he didn't know was the Naruto was going to use the same trick he used on the Demon Brothers, it worked out so well that mixing in shadow clones with exploding shadow clones was becoming a winning strategy with him. As soon as there was an opening one of the clones latched onto the leg of the Zabuza clone and an explosion was seen and felt. There was a small gap in the mist as the concussion blew away the mist.

Naruto looked to see all his clones had been taken out but so had the other Zabuza, "Yeah I got him!"

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke is in trouble!" Hinata called out to him.

Naruto could hear steal on steal and guessed that was where Sasuke had to be as he ran towards the noises.

Sasuke was having a hard time again the masked ninja. The other boy was fast, really fast, faster then he was. He got in close but the boy's taijutsu skills were better than his and those senbon needles were a major pain as well. He had to use his sword to block most of them, but a few still got through. He jumped back to get some room as he put the sword into the ground and started to make the hand seals for his grand fireball jutsu. The large fireball headed for the ninja and Sasuke smirked seeing that the other ninja wasn't going to dodge it.

There was an explosion but as soon as the smoked cleared he was surprised to see that there ninja was still there only in what looked like a piece of ice, the side facing him almost looked like a mirror instead that it didn't reflect anything back.

"I'm impressed, it's been awhile since anyone has made me use this technique," Haku stated. "Unfortunately I can't allow you to stand in the way of Zabuza-san's dream, if you don't move aside I will be forced to deal with you."

"Do your best," Sasuke said.

"Very well then, Demonic Ice Mirrors," Haku said and suddenly Sasuke found himself surrounded by the ice mirrors but they all held an image of the masked ninja.

At first he thought it was an illusion like that woman he fought before but when the senbon needles were thrown they were all real. His eyes couldn't see an illusion this time like the last time he was in something like this, this time they were all somehow real.

He tried his fireball jutsu again but he only managed to slightly melt the edges but they just froze over again. If he could he would try those other fire jutsus that he had been working on but in this kind of enclosed area they would do a lot more damage to himself then the enemy ninja.

'_Damn it, this guy's better than that other missing nin, there has to be a way around this. I can't get out, but if someone were to attack from the outside it might work at least it's better than just charging right in or they would be as stuck as I am.'_

"Hey, Sasuke how's it going?" Naruto shouted out as he jumped into the ice mirrored cage.

Sasuke just stared at him for a moment, _'...idiot.'_

Naruto just ignored the look, "So you're trying to kill the old man huh? That's not exactly a good thing in my book."

"I don't want to but to protect Zabuza's dream I will do what's necessary for him," Haku said as a hail of senbons from all direction came at them. The boys did their best to dodge and deflect them but there were just too many of them. Many hit them over and over again, they tried to fight back but Haku was just too fast. Naruto tried to make shadow clones and attack each mirror but Haku was able to attack each one in the blink of an eye.

The boys weren't doing well and they were running out of ideas.

Shino and Kiba had managed to fine the girls and the old bridge builder, they decided to keep together as they could see the others although the sounds of battle could be heard. Shino said that they had to protect their client and they needed to ensure his survival. There were some mutters against it but he could be very persuasive when he had to be. But for Hinata she could see that Naruto and Sasuke were in real trouble.

She couldn't stand watching as both of them were being hurt more and more and she just stood there. Seeing Naruto go down again in a yell of pain was just one time too much. She broke free from the group, she heard them yelling at her to come back. She was sorry but she had to help him, all the time Naruto was the one that helped her but she had never really helped him out when he was in trouble.

Without thinking she ran up to the ice mirrors seeing Naruto on the group and a group of senbons heading for him. She didn't think as she jumped to cover him, she gave a small cry as the needles hit her back and arms.

Naruto was expecting the impact but suddenly felt something very warm covering him, he heard a whimper of pain and when the pressure left he looked up to see Hinata's smiling face.

"Hinata!?"

"A-are you okay Naruto-kun?" She asked him.

"Hinata, you're hurt!" Naruto said seeing the needles inside of her.

"I had to help you, you've helped me so much in the past it's only right I do the same," She gave him a small smile but winced feeling some of the pain in her body.

He cried out and held her close to him as she looked a little unsteady, Haku saw this and couldn't help but feel sad at the sight. He didn't want to kill them but it looked like the girl meant a lot to the boy and what he had to do gave him no joy at all. He continued his attack but was surprised by the girl's abilities she was able to dodge them much better than the boys and with her bare hands was able to hit the center of his senbons knocking them out of the way.

"I'm sorry but I have to end this, this is taking too much time." Haku told them all. Before they could give a replay the masked ninja fired a horde of needles at them all.

Naruto felt the blinding pain all over his body as he slowly tried to get up, he went to look on Sasuke and Hinata but they were both on the ground. He ran over to them the fear in his heart was racing through him.

"Sasuke, Hinata-chan!" He yelled out as he checked on them.

They were hardly moving and they didn't look too good either.

"Damn it...I guess I couldn't kill him after all..." Sasuke groaned out.

"Don't say that like you're going to die you bastard," Naruto told him.

Sasuke gave a rare smile at him, "An idiot to the end huh, Naruto."

The boy went limp and he heard Hinata coughing as he turned to her, "Hinata-chan just hang on okay?"

"N-Naruto-kun...I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough..."

"You are strong how many times do I have to tell you that?" He pleaded with her. Sasuke was already gone and he couldn't lose Hinata. She was too important to his life, his first and best friend, she meant so much to him that he felt like he was dying on the inside.

"N-Naruto-kun, I've...I've wanted to...to tell you that...I...lo.." She passed out and fell still at that moment.

"Hinata-chan? Hinata!" Naruto shouted out feeling the tears coming out as he held her limp body in his arms. "No...you can't die...you're not supposed to die..."

"I'm sorry but as I said I can't let you get in the way." Haku stated.

"You think that makes it alright?" Naruto said his voice getting deeper. He was shaking all over as he looked at the boy. Haku noticed something odd about his eyes, they were red now and he could have sworn that they had been blue earlier.

Then Haku felt it, a large pulse of chakra and killing intent the likes he had never felt before. Naruto clenched the sword in his hand as the blade glowed but this wasn't the white glow that it was known for it was red now. In fact a mass of red chakra seemed to erupt from the boy as everyone in the battle felt the sudden surge of power. Haku was so surprised he nearly missed all the needles were somehow forced out of the boy's body and he came at the mirrors even faster than before. The sword which left a red streak as it moved actually cut into the mirrors nearly shattering them.

'_I have to end this quickly,'_ Haku thought worried. _'I don't know what's going on but he's gone berserk, I have to deal with him now or I might not be able to do it later.'_

As Naruto was on the ground he tried to appear in the top mirror and try to stab the boy from the air. But he seemed to know or at least moved fast enough to dodge the next thing he knew his kunai was cut in half by the boy's sword and felt his wrist being crushed in the boy's hand. He was surprisingly strong and looking into those pain filled red eyes he froze at the sight of them.

It was nearly like looking into the eyes of a demon and the killing intent and chakra were so intense he couldn't even move. Naruto shifted his sword hand to the blade was facing away as he slammed his fist into the boy's face sending him flying into one of the mirrors and then landing into the ground.

Without his concentration the mirrors melted into water but Naruto didn't care, the tears were flowing through his eyes as he ran at the boy. Haku managed to get to his knees as he saw the boy coming at him, the mask being damaged fell apart and Naruto could see the face behind it for the first time. He saw the hurt face there but it was the eyes that he couldn't help but see. The eyes were filled with a pain and regret that seemed familiar to him for some reason. He wanted to kill this boy but something inside of him couldn't help but look at the boy's eyes. The image of that ninja he tore open came to mind at the last second and he stopped the blade at the boy's throat.

"Why!?" Naruto shouted in his face with his sword resting on the boy's neck.

"Why what?"

"Why are you so ready to die, why did you have to kill them, why are you working for someone like Zabuza, tell me why?" Naruto shouted out feeling the tears on his face.

Haku gave him a sad smile, "I had no one, I was going to die in the cold alone hated by everyone just because of my ability. In Mist, everyone with a bloodline ability is hunted down and killed. It was Zabuza-san that found me, trained me, he gave me my life back and gave me a purpose again. My dream is for him to achieve his dream and if it means my life then so be it."

"So please kill me now I'm nothing more than a broken tool for him now. I'm worthless to him now."

"A tool? That's all you think you are?" Naruto asked.

"All ninja are tools to be used by others," Haku told him simply.

"I don't believe that! We are not tools, we're human first. We all have lives, hopes and dreams and tools don't have any of that!"

Haku gave him a warm smile then, "You are truly unique, I wish I had known you better in life. I'm sorry I killed those close to you but please, end me now."

Naruto closed his eyes he didn't know what to do. This boy just reminded him too much of himself, Kakashi had adopted him and taken him in when he had no one and had been a good father to him. And now this boy had the same thing done to him, if it was Kakashi then Naruto would die to protect his father as well. But to just think of yourself as just a tool, with a dream that wasn't even your own in life then there was Hinata and Sasuke behind him.

He wanted to kill him for that but he also pitied him too. He didn't know what to do.

With Kakashi and Kurenai they were having a major fight on their hands with Zabuza. The man's reputation was well worth it as they had a hard time with him. He created a large water dragon at them that they managed to dodge it although he didn't exactly let up with that either. That large sword of his was trouble and the man moved in and out of the mist like he was a phantom.

Zabuza wasn't going easy on them either, as both jonin were now fighting on the lake trying to keep ahead of the man.

"I think it's time for a little bait and switch," Kakashi whispered to her. Kurenai nodded her head knowing what he was talking about. It would just take the right moment to get it set up, it was a complex genjustu that she was preparing and it needed a lot of concentration.

Zabuza came at them again as Kakashi threw down smoke bombs, he could fight through the mist so some smoke wouldn't do anything for him. It was also the best time to get his water prison jutsu for them. He would have to use both hands but he could wait until they were drowned in the water. As he came through the smoke seeing the two jonins, he smirked as he had them right where he wanted them. As soon as they stopped moving he gathered the water around them into a sphere, shoving a hand into each sphere to control the prison.

He knew he had them as he saw their surprised looks but something was wrong, he could feel no real change in pressure in the water. It was almost as if...

He jumped out of the way as Kakashi came flying out of nowhere nearly attacking him from behind. He let the prison go as the illusion of the two jonins inside vanished. He had to admit that illusion was good if he hadn't known about the weight difference in the water he would never had known. He turned to face Kakashi when he realized that he couldn't see where the woman was.

Just as he was about to move something strange happened, a tree was suddenly growing out of nowhere but the thing was it was growing around him. He knew it was an illusion but it was so real that he couldn't even move. In a swirl of air the woman seemed to appear out of thin air.

"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death," She said as the jutsu was completed. "You should never underestimate someone just because you never heard of them."

"Apparently so," the man said back glaring at her.

Across the area Haku had prepared himself for death but something was wrong, he could feel something wrong with Zabuza. He cast a look and he didn't like what he could see in the mist. For years he had trained enough to be able to see through it enough to know what was going on.

"I'm sorry but it seems I can't die just yet," Haku told him with a sad smile. Before Naruto could react the boy made several hand seals with his one hand and suddenly vanished right there.

Across from them on the lake, Zabuza was held in Kurenai's tree as he stared down Kakashi. He could tell that he was finished at this moment and he couldn't break out. Kakashi came running over to him with his chidori charged up and ready to pierce his chest. He didn't blink or look away, if this was how his life ended he would stare it straight on and meet death itself unflinching or afraid. Kakashi got closer but when he was within a few feet the boy Haku suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of him, Kakashi's arm was already extending and it seemed time slowed down at he locked eyes with the boy.

He seemed sad and yet he held a purpose in him, he was sacrificing himself for Zabuza. He could hear, Naruto yelling out to him to stop but he wasn't sure he could at this moment Kakashi thought that he had passed the point of no return as he watched his hand moving towards the boy.

He was getting closer and closer until...

**Next up chapter 36: After the Battle**

**Yeah I know I'm evil, anyway will I kill off Haku or keep one or both of them alive. Not sure yet as I have a plan for both so let's see what happens shall we?**


	36. After the Battle

**Originally I thought I wrote that Kakashi had a kunai but looking back I made a mistake of making it chidori for some reason. Also I had to put away the anonymous reviews because of some guy who was too chicken to put his real name or e-mail address after bashing my work in one of the most pathetic and childish ways I've ever seen.**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 36: After the Battle**

Kakashi heard Naruto and he tried to move his arm but he was too close, the boy wasn't moving all that much so he knew that he had to limit it. He was still two feet away and slightly moved his hand, it wasn't much but he had been aiming for a higher target at any rate. If he had been any closer he couldn't have been able to move his arm plus he cut off the flow of chakra to his arm and hand, but that would only lessen the damage the build up in the jutsu alone was enough to be fatal if he hit a vital spot.

He didn't know why his son was telling him to stop but he trusted that he had a good reason. So with the last second his chidori hit the young boy in his shoulder. He heard the boy cry out in pain as he grabbed Kakashi's wrist, he was surprised how much strength the boy had in his arms.

"I...can't let you kill...him," the boy said to him giving him a small smile. "I'm sorry...Zabuza-sama...I'm no longer...any use to you..."

"Haku," the man behind him simply said as Kakashi looked at the boy who was starting to fall.

This Haku person still kept a grip on his arm even as he was falling down, he had to admit it was impressive how much will power the young boy had. Kakashi was finally able to pull his arm free as he grabbed the boy before he fell into the water. There was a groaning sound as the boy was still alive if only barely.

"Dad!" Naruto ran over to the body of water, he only got to the edge as he didn't know how the adults were standing on the water like they were.

"Naruto," Kakashi said in a tone that demanded an explanation.

Naruto heard that tone all the times he got caught with a prank only now it was more serious. He knew that his father would demand a very good explanation as to why he was told to stop other than Haku getting in the way.

"I...I didn't want him hurt...He's like me I think," Naruto told him and Kakashi's head went back a little at that as he looked down at the bleeding boy.

"Stupid kid," Zabuza said still stuck in Kurenai's genjutsu.

"Don't say that about him!" Naruto yelled out at the man. "Don't you care at all? He lived for you, his only dream was for you he didn't even have a dream of his own. He said that he was alone and you took him in, you trained him. Don't you care for him at all!" Naruto shouted at the man. He couldn't help but think on his own life.

After he had learned that his parents had died and that Kakashi had taken him in. How could this man who had done the same feel nothing at all for the boy? He just didn't understand it, yes he knew that Haku had done just moments ago but isn't that the life of a ninja? You fought your enemies?

But Naruto couldn't hate, not after seeing those eyes. He remembered those eyes from the mirror when he was lonely, before he met Hinata. The boy just seemed too much like him to hate and he couldn't believe that this Zabuza just didn't care, even a little.

"Look at him you bastard!" Naruto yelled out. "He's there bleeding, broken and dying for you! Everything he's done seems to have been for you and never himself! He thinks he's just a tool!"

"Ninja are the tools of war kid," Zabuza said looking at the boy under him, watching the water turn red from the blood.

"Bullshit!" Naruto said. "We're people first damn it! We have feelings, we have hopes and above all we have dreams. You have a dream, he told me that much so does that make you a tool? Is the fact that his only dream in life is for yours make him less human!"

"Shut up!" the killer said closing his eyes. He saw all the times he was with Haku, the day he met the starving and cold little boy that was most likely about to die in a day. He took that boy in and yes he first saw him as a tool for his own uses. As he trained the boy he couldn't help but be proud at the boy, his skills were above anyone he had seen. The boy was truly gifted and adding in that bloodline for ice he could be nearly unstoppable. If only the boy's heart wasn't so soft.

He had spent years training and living with Haku, trying to raise enough money to buy him a security from hunter nins and to kill his Kage again. Over all the years he tried to think of the boy as nothing but a tool to be used. But looking at him now why did he feel this pain in his chest? He had never felt this before so why now and why with Haku? It didn't make any sense for him to feel this way about a tool.

"Kakashi I can't hold him forever," Kurenai said to him.

Kakashi looked at the boy and then at the man, he saw something in those eyes that shouldn't be in the eyes of a killer. Then he cast a look at Naruto and saw the pained look in his son's eyes and beyond him he could just start to make out the still forms on the ground behind him and he felt his own chest tighten at that. This wasn't supposed to happen on this mission, he knew there were dangers but this wasn't supposed to happen. He suddenly remembered the face of Obito, half crushed in rock.

He looked back at Naruto as a silent thing passed between them, "Let him go."

"What!?" Kurenai shouted.

"He's nearly out of chakra and so am I," Kakashi said closing his eye. "Even if he did try something you'd kill him."

He faced Zabuza as their eyes met, "Take your soldier and go, there has been enough blood today."

"My contract is still valid you know," the man warned Kakashi.

"I know and we'll be ready for you." He said back as he picked up Haku.

Kurenai couldn't believe this was happening but Kakashi was the senior ranked jonin. She reluctantly let go of her jutsu and the large man walked free. She watched as he slowly went up to Kakashi, she waited to see if he would make a move on them or not. Zabuza just picked up Haku and without a word a mist shrouded the two of them as they faded away.

"I hope you know what you did," Kurenai said coldly to him.

He didn't say anything as they walked to the shore as he looked at Naruto, _'I hope you know as well Naruto.'_

Naruto knelt down next to Hinata, she looked almost peaceful but he felt like his heart was breaking. Back when he was a lonely child with no friends she had been the person to accept him as a friend. And he failed to protect her, he failed and she was dead because he wasn't strong enough. She came in to help him and she died along with Sasuke. She shut his eyes feeling the sting of his tears.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her. He had no idea what he was going to say to Neji, to her father or to Hanabi. He started to pull out the needles to at least clean her up a little. The others watched in silence as Naruto started out and Sakura did the same for Sasuke seeing him doing it. She too felt her heart breaking, Hinata was a friend of hers and she couldn't stop looking at the boy she had a crush on lifeless on the ground.

Naruto pulled out a needle in her neck and suddenly she jerked, her eyes snapped open as she gasped for air. Naruto fell back on his ass with a shout his eyes wide and unbelieving as did everyone else turn to see the Hyuga girl still alive.

"H-Hinata!?" Naruto shouted out.

"N-Naruto-kun?" She said weakly. Her whole body hurt for some reason and she couldn't really move.

"Hinata!" Naruto quickly moved over to her as he started to pull out the last of the needles. He was so happy that she was still alive. He heard another gasp and Sakura's shriek as he looked over his shoulder at the other boy coughing and Sakura helping him out. He smiled under his mask as he picked up Hinata slightly to him.

'_I guess he couldn't kill them after all,'_ He thought happily holding Hinata close to him.

Hinata was slowly becoming aware of the world around her, the last thing she remembered was a fight with the masked boy and lots of pain, Naruto holding her and...She blushed a bit remembering thinking she was dying and nearly telling Naruto her true feelings. She felt a bit better but still her body ached in places. She felt her face pressed up against something and as her eyes focused she saw orange. It was Naruto's shirt.

'_Naruto is holding me? He's got his arms wrapped around me!?'_ she blushed very red as she could almost hear his heart beating in his chest.

"Hinata-chan don't ever scare me like that again, I thought I lost you. You have no idea how much you mean to me," he told her gently. That only caused her blush to get even redder as his words hit her, it was also more than she could take and passed out again only this time with a smile as felt her face against his chest.

"Hinata-chan? Hinata!?" Naruto shook her worried that something was wrong.

It was at this time that Kurenai stepped forward, "It's okay, she's just passed out."

She was so relieved that Hinata was still alive, the little girl was almost like a daughter to her after all this time and she had seen her grow and get stronger. She was also painfully aware of the young girl's feelings for the masked boy holding her and she wondered why Hatake had never told his son that she liked him. She would have to ask him later but right now she was just glad that the two were alright.

"I wonder why that boy didn't kill them?" She wondered softly to herself.

"I'm not sure myself but it seems the boy can't kill his heart," Kakashi said in a pleased tone. He was glad that Naruto's instincts were right in the boy, he hadn't been sure but Naruto always had a way with people.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said as she helped him up.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Uh...looks like we won," Sakura said to him not sure what happened. The last thing she knew in the battle was that strange chakra and the killer intent unlike anything she had ever felt before. Then some things happened and when the mist cleared he and Hinata looked like they had been killed.

"Damn you two are lucky that masked guy didn't kill you two," Kiba said smiling at him.

"Hmn," Sasuke grunted as he tried to get up, Sakura tried to help him but he shrugged her off saying that he was fine.

Sakura frowned as she looked sadly at his back as he walked away but felt Kiba's hand on her shoulder.

"Don't let it bother you Sakura, his pride is just hurt and he's not taking it well." He told her.

When they gathered everything up, Naruto said that he would carry Hinata to the village they were going. Of course Kurenai offered but he flat out refused as he put her on his back and started to carry her along the way. Sakura saw this and she sighed, it looked like Hinata had gotten the boy after all or at least closer than anyone. She just wished that someone could be like that for her. They walked on to the village and along the way Hinata woke up slightly. She was wondering what was going on and why it felt like she was moving. She felt something against her chest and what felt like hands on her legs.

She blushed as that registered in her mind and soon she realised that she was being carried. With the blonde hair she could see she knew it was Naruto, he was carrying her and he was touching her legs. She blushed once more but managed to stay awake, she just let herself enjoy the feeling of Naruto's back. She gave a content sigh as she slowly fell asleep being carried by him.

"Finally, it's good to be back home," Tazuna said looking over his village. Although the other shinobi weren't exactly as thrilled, the place looked like it had once been a prosperous fishing village but now it looked like it had seen better days.

"Man what a dumb," Kiba muttered.

"Watch it punk!" The old man shouted at him, "you should never insult the home of someone when you're a guest it's bad manners. Besides one of the reasons I'm building the bridge is to bring back the beauty and pride of my village."

"Of course," Kurenai said placing a hand on Kiba's shoulder. "You'll have to excuse my student he's not very good at thinking before speaking." She gave Kiba a look and he flinched a bit under it knowing that he might get a talking to about learning to watch his mouth. They were led through the village looking around as they did, people were wearing very worn clothing, the few stands that were still open had very little to sell and people looked hungry and destitute.

"Tazuna-san, is this what that Gato man did to your village?" Sakura asked the older man seeing everything. She felt very bad for the people in this village, she had never seen anything close to this as Konoha was a very prosperous village.

The old man nodded being a bit more serious, "Now you see why we need the bridge so much. This used to be a beautiful town before that man came, what you see around you is the results of his work."

Everyone looked around and the air was just thick with despair, it was like the soul of the entire village had been ripped out. They went through the town and it only seemed to get worse as they walked on, eventually they came to an out of the way area and they saw a home there. They walked up to it as Tazuna walked through the front door.

"Tsunami, I'm home," he called out.

A young woman with long dark blue hair and an earthly beauty about her came into the room, she looked happy and relieved to see the old man, she ran up to him and threw her arms around him hugging him tightly.

"Father, you had be so worried!"

"It's alright Tsunami, I managed to get some protection from Konoha," Tazuna moved aside as the two genin teams came in.

"Oh my, are you all right?" Tsunami asked seeing how they were all banged up from the fight. She couldn't believe that children who looked only a few years older than her own son were put into fights.

"If you have a room we could use to rest up that would be most appreciated," Kurenai asked her.

"Of course this way," she said leading them all through the small home.

On the second floor they were showed a spare room, there wasn't much and it would get a little cramp with all of them sharing it but they were tired and they all needed some rest. Naruto placed Hinata on a small bedroll for her.

"So how are you feeling, Hinata-chan?" He asked her.

"B-better, although I still feel sore all over," she admitted. Thankfully she had some ointments and other stuff with her that she could put on although she might have to ask Kurenai or Sakura for help as it would mean to take her shirt off for someone to get the places on her back and she didn't want Naruto to do it. Well the mental image of him doing that made her blush very badly but she knew she'd faint before it got anywhere anyway.

"So you want me to get you something?" Naruto asked her.

"I-I'm fine thanks," she smiled up at him. Then she noticed the sad look in his eyes and she stopped smiling. One of the things she loved was his eyes they were so blue and so full of life and joy that she didn't like to see sadness in them. His eyes weren't meant to be sad or full of hurt.

"N-Naruto-Kun, what's wrong?"

"It's just that..." he trailed off seeing everyone in the room he really didn't want to get into this with everyone there. It was just kind of embarrassing and he knew that Kiba would never let him live it down if he got all sappy. He wanted to tell her how scared he was when he thought that she was dead and how much she meant to him, she was one of the closest people in his life and the thought of losing her was terrifying.

"Can I tell you later? You know when we're alone?"

'_He wants to be alone with me?'_ she thought as her cheeks started to burn up but quickly nodded.

Kakashi sighed as he put his tired body up against a wall sitting down. Using that eye of his really was taking it out of him. He as starting to feel the drain to his body but at least it wasn't too bad if he had been on his own he was sure that he would have nothing left. But now he had other things to think about, the genin would need some more training and soon. The only problem was that there was no way to train them in anything major, no time for new techniques but by the looks of them there was something they could learn.

"Kurenai," Kakashi said getting her attention, "how far are your students in their chakra training?"

"They're pretty far they can mold it well enough although I haven't started on any elemental or shape training. I got them on chakra building exercises to help them expand their supply of chakra as well as increase their stamina."

Kakashi nodded his head, "Good. I take it they've passed the tree walking?"

She nodded at him.

"Okay then I think we should try water walking, there's a huge supply of that around here plus they might need to be able to fight on the water if we're pulled onto it, plus they need more chakra control and supply given how good that boy was."

"So you think they'll be back," Kurenai surmised although she wasn't surprised by that. "I mean that wound you gave that boy looked pretty serious."

Kakashi sighed once more thinking about it, "I missed his heart but I think I might have hit his lung, there was a lot of blood loss but the chidori can also seal off some of the wound from the electricity but that's a double edged sword as it burns the inside. The boy was still alive but he'll need some major medical attention, and if he's strong enough he might live through it but it could also be touch and go."

Kurenai had never really seen Kakashi fight before during that battle he went from a seemingly lazy jonin and turned into a ninja that had earned his reputation in the ninja world. Everything that Zabuza threw at them, Kakashi just threw it right back at him. Although she wasn't weak, she knew that those two men were stronger than her and if she had gone up along against Zabuza it wouldn't have been easy to beat him that is if she could have. It was Kakashi's battling that gave her the time to use her genjutsu skills.

It wasn't until that moment that she realized how dangerous it was to be overly specialized in one area, she could manipulate two elements like all jonin had to, but the jutsu list for those were only two or three for each. Kakashi was rumoured to have a thousand and he always brought back them for the village, it was also rumoured that besides the Uchiha, Kakashi had put down more jutsus in the Forbidden Scroll than any other ninja.

And now hearing just how much damage that chidori of his did and seeing it in action she realized that under all the false fronts, Kakashi Hatake was one of the most dangerous men she had ever met. She couldn't really read the man and he was a mystery even though she had known him for years.

"Hey you okay?" Kakashi asked looking up at her with that lazy expression on his face.

Looking at him she couldn't tell just how many masks the man wore in life but she decided that now wasn't the time to think on the mystery that was Kakashi. "Yes just planning out the training."

"Oh okay, well I'm going to take a nap do me a favor and wake me for dinner? Thanks." He said without waiting for an answer and picked out a spot on the ground and just seemed to fall asleep just like that. Kurenai just blinked at him a bit more confused by the man than ever.

**-Gato's Hideout-**

Zabuza stared down that the form of Haku in that bed, his upper torso was bare as the bandages covered it, he could see the blood stains on it as well. The boy was asleep but looked too pale for his own good. When he got back he ordered the Gato's lackeys to get a doctor. He had just stood there while the doctor worked on the boy, he had already put some new blood into him and closed up the wound as best he could but the doctor told him the wound was serious.

He shoved the doctor out the door almost throwing him as he said that the boy might not live. He sat in a chair looking at the pale face of the boy that he had been with for years.

"You've made me soft kid," he silently said to him. "I didn't used to feel this way about anyone. I was Zabuza the Demon, the man that killed all his friends and comrades part of the elite Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. I'm not supposed to have friends or people close to me. You were just supposed to be a tool for my own ends..."

"Then that loud mouth brat had to go an open his stupid mouth," he muttered thinking back to the blonde haired boy. He made the killer think of all the times he spend with the boy, although he never admitted it he actually liked the boy. His life had always been a lonely one but Haku actually filled a void in his life that he never even noticed before. The sudden thought of Haku gone actually hurt, something that surprised him, he thought he had killed his heart years ago but this boy in the bed had snuck his way in without him noticing.

He sighed as he looked at the senbon needle in his hand he had practically raised the boy and was the closet he had ever been to someone in all his life. On the one hand he hated these feelings he felt weaker for them and he had left the battlefield instead of fighting to the end. On the other he felt like if the boy died a piece of him would die too. He had passed down everything to the boy, all his knowledge, skills and wisdom. It was strange as in a way it was like the relationship of a father and son but he never could remember what that was like.

He never had a family and he didn't know what it felt like, he had been alone all his life...until he had the boy there then he hadn't been alone. He sat there lost in his own thoughts and memories trying to make sense out of the chaos that was warring inside of him, things had been so easy before this and now everything seemed completely upside down.

**Next up Chapter 37: Plans and Preparations**


	37. Plans and Preperations

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 37: Plans and Preparations**

The next morning found the ninja teams rested and nearly ready for action. Although Hinata felt better her body was still stiff and even Sasuke was feeling it but didn't want to let it show. Kakashi was said he wanted to sleep in a bit more to recover from using his sharingan although Kurenai wasn't sure it was because he just wanted to be lazy. She was still having a hard time trying to see through the man when he was putting on an act or if he was serious of not. So eventually they made their way down to the kitchen, it was a tight fit but they all managed somehow to find a place at the table.

Tsunami had done the best she could for all of them, but with the village in such a poor state finding enough decent food was hard. A lot of the food that you could buy there was little of it, over priced and not in the best condition either. But she never let it show after all she had to keep up hope even in the most hopeless of times. That was why her father was building the bridge, to change things for the better. She looked to see the young children were doing their best to eat and not say anything about the food.

Although she did wonder how the short one in the mask seemed to be eating with his mask on, the others around him kept looking as well but you never saw him take off the mask. Then he noticed her little boy, Inari. He was looking down not looking at the guests it broke her heart to see her precious little boy like that. Although she was hurting as well, after his biological father had died it was hard to go on. But then Kaiza came into her life and she learned to love again, he had been such a great man and a greater father to Inari. Then she lost yet another husband to that man Gato, he took one of the best things out of their life and made her child watch as well as the village as he tortured and murdered him.

She still cried herself to sleep at night when no one was looking it just hurt so much not to have him around. Sometimes it was easier to ignore the past and the pain with it but she had loved him so much it was too much to just forget he ever lived. She went back to putting away the dishes so no one would see the tear falling from her face.

"I'm telling you guys we're going to make sure that bridge gets built!" Naruto proclaimed, after seeing the entire town the genins were motivated to help this place out. This was the kind of thing that Naruto had hoped he would do, saving people and protecting the innocent. He knew that not all ninja jobs were like that but that was why he liked this so much.

Akamaru barked out something.

"Yeah I agree boy," Kiba grinned. "This place could use the help."

Shino nodded too, "Even though out mission is to protect our client, the end result of his work is a good bonus that comes with our work. I must admit that seeing the condition in this village I can say that letting such a force to run rampant would only spread, eventually if he's not stopped he could bring his practices into the Fire Country and many others."

"So you want to stop him too huh?" Kiba smirked. Normally Shino was very logical and put his emotions aside but he guessed that even all of the suffering of this village had to get through to his teammate.

Shino gave him a pointed look, "When dealing with a cancer you should cut it out before it spreads and from what I can see this Gato person is the definition of a cancer."

Kiba gave him a weirded out look, "Man...that was pretty cold."

"We'll he's got the right idea," Naruto smiled, "We protect the old man and if that Gato jerk shows up we just kick his ass!"

"Yeah and I'm sure the village will be better off," Sakura said.

'_**Hell yeah! We'll kick his ass and any of his followers and any other ninja he has, shannaro!'**_ Inner Sakura shouted out fisting her hand into the air in Sakura's mind.

"Why do you even bother," Inari said quietly looking at the table.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, he had forgotten that the kid was even there. He had been so quiet when they first had met.

"You'll all just die anyway!" Inari shouted out at them. "No one can beat him and you'll all just die too, you should just leave!"

"What the hell do you mean by that!" Kiba shouted at the kid.

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted back at the boy.

"I said you'll all just die! What's not to get?" Inari said.

"Like hell!" Naruto stood up slamming his hands onto the table.

"What makes you so special?" Inari said locking his eyes onto Naruto's.

"I'm Naruto Hatake!" Naruto said proudly. "I'm the son of Kakashi Hatake the Copy Ninja of Konoha, grandson of the famous White Fang, Sakumo Hatake. I'm going to be the future Hokage of the village and make my family proud of who I am, I never give up, I never go back on my word either. That's who I am!"

"So what?" Inari said back. "Gato will kill you all and even your dad!"

That was going too far for Naruto, he could take things said about him he had been doing that all his life. But when people said things about his friends or his family that was going too far, he reached over and grabbed the boy by his collar and he could see the sudden shock and fear in the boy's eyes.

"Don't you ever say anything like that to me again!" He growled out. "My dad is one of the best ninja in the world and there is no way some weak punk like Gato can hurt him, he had to go an hire an A Class missing nin to do his dirty work and we sent him running!"

Although Naruto knew that it hadn't been that easy and both Kurenai and Kakashi had to go all out just to stay alive against him but that wasn't the point. When push came to shove they beat him, that Haku boy, and those two brothers earlier on their way here. No matter what this guy threw at them they were not backing down from this mission.

"Naruto," came the cold command of Kurenai. He looked over at the jonin as she was giving him a look that told him to put an end to this. Naruto sighed and released the boy and sat down glaring at the table a shadow covering his eyes. Inari ran off somewhere else as Hinata looked at her best friend worried, she had only rarely seen Naruto act like that and only when it was in the defence of those close to him.

"Man what's with the kid?" Kiba muttered looking in the direction that Inari ran off to.

"Don't let my grandson get to you, it's just hard with what happened," Tazuna sighed taking a drink.

"Why what happened?" Sakura asked him but the old man didn't answer.

"If this is important should you tell but if it's not then you don't have to," Kurenai told the old man. She could tell from how tense the daughter was and the look on the old man's face that this was a hard subject.

Tazuna thought about it and sighed, "It's not a pretty story but it's how the village lost its hope to Gato."

He told them how things had used to be, he spoke of the old days with a light in his eyes. He told of how his daughter had met a good fisherman, he was like life itself and to Inari he was a hero to the boy. Then the man Gato came and slowly started to put a strangle hold onto the village, the only one that would stand up to him was Kaiza. But Gato's men were too many and they beaten him and had dragged him to be executed in front of the whole village. Inari had watched his father, his hero being brutalized and then killed in front of him. After that day all hope in the village died. Gato had taken the best of them and it had crushed their spirits.

Hearing the story they could only sympathize with them even more. Sakura and Hinata were near tears at the thought of something like this happening Kiba had his fists clenched tightly into balls as Akamaru let out a small growl at the emotions running in the room. Shino didn't look like he was reacting but Kiba had known him long enough to pick up on the subtle way he was sitting that he could see that Shino didn't like the sounds of what happened either.

Sasuke looked away although there was a small part that kept thinking back to his clan the night his brother killed them all, he had seen that happen as well although the boy having only one parent die was nothing in comparison, Sasuke still knew a bit of what the boy was going through. He had seen the anger and pain in there the only thing that Inari didn't have was that hatred that Sasuke had in him. The boy's pain had crippled him while Sasuke knew that his own hatred kept him going.

"Well then maybe we should use this moment to help motivate your training then."

Everyone looked to see Kakashi resting up against the doorway to the kitchen. He had heard the story himself and with this he could use it to motivate them a bit more. He just wished that they could do more training then what he had in store for them but time wasn't on their side.

**-Later-**

After some asking, Kakashi was able to find the perfect place for their next step of the training. It was good that both students had learned how to walk on trees but now they needed to take that to the next step. They would have to learn how to fight on water if it was needed given that they could easily be attacked near it, also it would help them to conserve the chakra they use and increase their capacity for it. Maybe even sharpen their fighting skills a bit but fight now it was one thing at a time.

They came to a large river it was thankfully a gentle one which was good as trying this on a ragging river wouldn't be the smartest thing.

"Alright then since you all know tree walking we'll be doing the more advanced version of that today," Kakashi said in a happy tone. "With this it will improve chakra control as well as increase it as well. Plus you'll be able to fight on more surfaces."

"You mean like how you and Kurenai-sensei were when fighting earlier on that lake?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi nodded, "just like that, only this is much more difficult to do. All of you will have to spread out your chakra but unlike on a tree you can't keep it steady. For a surface like what, where the surface is in constant change you have to constantly adapt."

"That sounds kind of hard," Kiba muttered as he remembered how hard the tree walking was.

"It is a first," Kurenai told them, "But with practice you'll eventually get to the point where you'll be able to do it without even thinking."

"Alright then let's get this started," Naruto smirked as he started to run for the water.

Kakashi sighed, "Naruto, just remember to stay in the shallow end at first until you get the hang of it. In fact that goes for the rest of you."

The genin and one ninja dog went to the water to start on their training as Kakashi and Kurenai watched.

"I wish we had more time," she told the other jonin.

Kakashi nodded to Kurenai's point but it was the best they could do at the moment. "I'm more worried about the next battle. If Haku lives he'll be very injured and we don't know how many more ninja that Gato has hired. Although I don't think there could be more, as someone like Zabuza doesn't come cheap. But we should be prepared in any case."

They continued to watch as they gave out certain advice to their students on how to get a better handle on things. Shino and Sasuke were doing fairly well, although Kiba and Naruto were having the most trouble. It was Hinata and Sakura that were doing the best so far but given they had the best control out of them all they weren't all that surprised. Both jonin continued on with the training for the entire day until it was getting late and by sunset called it a day.

**-Later that Night-**

Hinata had left everyone behind as she made her way to the river that she had seen earlier in the day. She needed to train more even though Kurenai and Kakashi had said she was improving she felt it wasn't enough. She needed to be stronger and it was time to try and continue on with the training that she had been doing in secret for awhile now. Ever since that day she copied down those water jutsu moves from that scroll she had helped Naruto to steal, she had been sneaking in elemental training. She had kept trying to mold water when she could. Sometimes it was after missions and training she would do this.

It was very tiring at times, since she had training with her team, D Class missions and then training with her family in her fighting style. After those times she was so tired but still she tried to push herself. She even had to sneak in a few soldier pills at times to get through the day, although he was careful not to overdue it. If people found out how hard she was pushing herself then they might get worried but some days she did take it easy.

But that battle on the bridge she hadn't done much, and she had worried Naruto a lot as well. She had been a bit thankful that they had been so busy that they hadn't had a chance to talk, she was worried about what to say to him. She was so embarrassed about what she had nearly said to him when she had thought that she was dying. But now she wasn't sure if she could admit it a second time, all the old fears and doubts came back to plague her.

She pushed those aside, she had to continue her training now and not focus on her feelings for Naruto. She needed to be stronger this time around and it was time to learn how. She placed a hand in the water and could feel how cold it was. She quickly scanned the area with her eyes and so far there was no one near her which was good, the last thing she wanted was someone to catch what she was going to do.

She was going to have to train in water and given the cold she would get sick easily. So she sighed and started to take off her clothing and placing them neatly on a nearby rock.

Hinata wasn't the only one that wanted some extra training that night either.

Just out of range of her eyes, Naruto had the same idea as her. To too felt like he should have been stronger on that fight he couldn't even had done any of his wind jutsus in that battle, if he had used the wind armor then the senbons would have gone off him and hit Sasuke or Hinata. Plus it was still not perfected as well, he could get it around his hand and arms really good but when it came to a full body protection it was unstable. Then there was the wind slash, but that too wasn't strong enough. He could hit a person and cut them but that move was supposed to cut through solid rock, even metal at times.

So after dinner he had ran out to the woods again only this time for some elemental training. He started off with making shadow clones to help him in this. He told five to start with chakra control exercises with running up and down the trees, as ten were to try using that method he got showed by Asuma once on how to cut a leaf with that kind of chakra. Five were to keep using wind armor until they were so exhausted that they dispelled from lack of chakra. Another five were doing the same with the wind blade too.

For him, he was going to try and get his grandfather's sword to start working. Like he had told his dad, when he used the demon's power he saw the blade turn red but he wanted to do it on his own. The Fox's chakra was hard for him to control not only the power itself but he knew that he was a bit out of control too. He looked at the family sword in the moonlight as his clones were training, this sword belonged to a great ninja that even though he knew the full story, he was still proud of the elder Hatake. He couldn't look down on anyone that didn't abandon their friends.

'_I promise you grandpa, I'll use your blade to make you proud,'_ Naruto thought as he started with a few warm ups with the blade.

After an hour Naruto was out of clones as they had all tired themselves out of existence. Thankfully they didn't all dispel at the same time, but now he was feeling one of the after effects of it. He decided that he needed a drink but when he went to get one from a canteen he had he found it dry.

"Damn it...must of used the last of it up," He muttered to himself. It was a long walk back to the house and he didn't like going back thirsty. Then he remembered the river they trained on, it looked clean enough so he figured he might as well get a drink from there. He eventually found it, although he had gotten turned around a few times, he never was good with directions in the day and at night it was even worse as it was harder to spot landmarks.

But when he heard the sounds of a river he just followed that. When he got to it the moon was covered by a cloud so he eased his way not wanting to fall in and get wet. He found a few large rocks and the sound was very close so he got on one of them and reached down over the other side and felt the cold water there. He grinned as he put his canteen down to get it filled when he noticed another sound there on the river.

He tensed wondering if it was those ninja again or Gato and his people. He stayed still not even moving to give away his location waiting for the moon to get back out again. The clouds slowly moved away from the moon and in its light he paused. His eyes widened at the sight he was looking at, there on the river itself there seemed to be someone who looked like they were dancing. The movements were so fluid and graceful, and from the figure it was definitely a girl, a very well developed one with a great figure too.

He gulped as his mouth was dry for another reason it was like a vision before him. She was so amazing, it was also then that he noticed that the girl had no clothing on! He felt a nose bleed starting up but he couldn't look away. The moonlight showed off parts of her skin and he could tell that she didn't have anything on, he hadn't seen any of the really 'naughty' parts but he had seen enough.

'_I...I shouldn't be staring should I?'_ He thought to himself feeling his heart hammering in his chest._ 'I mean, yeah I looked at my dad's books from time to time, and yeah I got that Sexy Jutsu and know all that stuff but...something seems like I should watch this...oh god, she's just so hot though.'_

He tried not to groan at that thought he wanted to see her face to see if she was just as pretty as the rest of her. He wanted to know who this water nymph was. After he gave up on Sakura he realized that he didn't have his sights set on anyone else but this girl was just amazing. He never looked at Sakura the same way he was looking at her, was this girl someone from the village? But then how was she on the water like that? Was she a spirit or maybe some traveling nin from another village?

He had to know and he got up to talk to her, it was a calculated risk given her lack of clothing but he really needed to know who she was. He just about opened his mouth when he slipped on some moss that had been on the stone. He yelled out as he crashed fact first into the water, after some thrashing about he got to his knees and coughed a few times.

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to know who you...were?" Naruto blinked a few times looking up to see no one there. "What the!?"

He got up and looked around but couldn't see anyone. It had to have been real right? He hadn't hallucinated or anything had he? He looked around for a bit but found no sign of the mystery girl. He was also feeling very cold now as the water was soaking him. With a sigh and a heavy heart he made his way back to the house. All the way there he couldn't get that girl out of his mind, he wanted to know so bad. He quickly took a change of clothing and put his wet ones out on a clothes line to dry off and went to sleep. He was so tired that he fell asleep almost instantly, but his dreams were haunted by that beautiful dancer on the waters.

Not long after he had fell asleep, Hinata had made her way back to the home as she nervously dried off a bit and went to sleep as well hoping that whoever had seen her on that river hadn't gotten a look at her face. She was so embarrassed that someone had caught her, she had quickly hid as soon as she heard the splash and had waited for that person to leave. She groaned hoping that no one would know of her little embarrassment in the morning.

**Next up chapter 38: Calm before the Storm**


	38. Calm before the Storm

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 38: Calm before the Storm**

The next morning Naruto woke up and went to breakfast lost in thought. All he could think about was that girl he saw in the water, hell he had even dreamed about her last night. She was constantly running through his mind, he had to know who it was. The others were starting to notice how quiet Naruto was all throughout breakfast, those that knew him well knew that there was something going on with him but they weren't sure what. Kakashi gave his son a glance seeing the look on his face, he was sure that Naruto wasn't angry or anything, he actually looked very deep in thought.

Naruto had eaten without saying a word, Hinata had offered to help Tsunami out with the dishes as there was so many of them it was only proper. She cast a worried look over at Naruto as well, she was worried about him and wondered what had happened to make him so silent.

While his friends were trying to figure out how to approach him, the young blonde suddenly looked up at the old bridge builder. "Hey, old man!"

"Yeah what do you want shorty?" Tazuna asked him.

"Are there any female ninjas in the village or heard of any passing by?" The masked genin asked.

"Huh!? Why the hell would you ask that?" He asked the boy.

"Cause I think I saw one last night at the river." He told him while everyone stopped to listen in.

Although one was rigid from pure shock as Hinata's eyes widen so large that they looked like they would fall out of her head. Her heart was hammering in her chest as last night came rushing back to her and to the mysterious person that had seen her. But had that person been Naruto all along? Her face was growing very red at the moment and she felt like she wanted to crawl under a rock and die.

"You think you saw a kunoichi?" Kakashi asked him thinking that maybe Gato did have another ninja up his sleeve.

"Yeah I mean who else can move on water," Naruto told him.

"Wait, weren't we all supposed to be asleep last night?" Sakura asked remembering that they all went to bed at roughly the same time.

"Uh..." Naruto forgot about his little midnight training session and seeing the look he was getting from his dad he knew better than to not lie. Besides, he sucked at lying it was just a skill he was never very good at when it came to himself. With his pranks he could do it but when it was to get himself out of trouble, not so much.

"I think you better start from the beginning," Kakashi told him in an even tone.

Naruto ended up confessing to sneaking out for some extra training. He didn't really go into how much he was training only he was brushing up on his skills. He got to the point where he had gotten thirsty and had gone for some water and that's when he saw that girl.

"She was just dancing on the water," Naruto said in a dreamy like way thinking back. "I mean she was so graceful."

"Did you get a good look at her?" Kiba asked getting more interested in the story now.

"Well I didn't see her face unfortunately," Naruto said disappointed about that. "But man she had one hell of a figure, I mean great legs, hour glass figure that was starting to show and she was very well developed."

"What, was she naked or something?" Kiba laughed at how much he seemed to get.

"Oh yeah she was," Naruto grinned behind his mask.

This caused several reactions, Kiba's mouth hung open in shock, Kakashi gave out a perverted giggle like he was reading his books, Sakura and Kurenai were the only ones not really amused as Tsunami decided to cover her child's ears from this, the boy was too young to hear this kind of stuff. Tazuna although seemed interested in the story, Shino and Sasuke didn't really have much reaction but it was Hinata who no one could see and it was a good thing she thought.

If she wanted to crawl under a rock and die before she really wanted to do it now.

"You serious!?" Kiba asked him.

"Hell yeah," Naruto told his friend, "I mean she was amazing, I've never seen a girl like her before. I just wish I knew who she was I can't get her out of my mind."

"So then what happened?" Kakashi asked smirking.

"I...uh...fell into the water," Naruto muttered. "When I came back up she was gone."

There was pure silence in the room at that before Kiba hit Naruto on the head.

"What the hell was that for!?" Naruto shouted at him.

"You idiot, you most likely hit your head and it was all just a dream," Kiba told him.

"There's no way such a pretty girl was a dream," Naruto told him. "Besides usually the girls in my dreams I can see their faces so this had to be real."

"Yeah whatever," Kiba said getting up feeling bored now, "Come on Akamaru let's go for a walk before training."

Everyone else started to get up and leave as well, while Naruto was insisting that it really did happen. Hinata breathed out a sigh of relief at that, she was mortified that Naruto had seen her naked while training last night, but there was a part of her that secretly liked with how much he seemed attracted to her body. But then why didn't he notice her before now? She looked down at the coat she always wore, it was bulky and hid her form, she never was very comfortable with her physical body thinking she was very plain looking, but then she thought back to just how much Naruto was going on about her and it made her starting to wonder.

**-Later that day-**

It had been another long training day for Naruto, more water walking but the teams were also training in working together as well. Mainly they would be paired into twos from each team and mixed up so that they could get a decent idea of how each other person fought. After all that and a little side training as well he was feeling tired. Plus Naruto was still thinking about that girl he had seen last night. He couldn't get that image out of his mind and it was starting to drive him up the wall, he couldn't think that he had just imagined it like Kiba had said.

So lately when he was in the village he kept looking at the girls trying to see if they matched what he saw. So far there wasn't any matches and it had another effects too, mainly girl's blushing with how he was looking at them to other's ending up slapping him thinking he was being a pervert by checking them out for some reason.

At any rate he was tired and parts of his face felt sore too from a few slaps, he was thankful for the mask at this point as they hid the red marks he was feeling on his skin. At any rate he was just going to the guest room he shared with the male members when he stopped hearing someone crying. He moved silently over to the door and opened it lightly. What Naruto saw was the little boy Inari who was holding something and crying. Ever since the teams had gotten here, the boy had been a major pain but at the moment he couldn't help but feel something for the boy.

He silently walked up behind the boy it wasn't hard to with the kid. He looked over the boy's shoulder and noticed it was a picture of him with a man both were smiling and looked happy. Naruto had seen all the pictures in the house with a certain figure cut out of them and he guessed that was the missing person in the photos.

"So that's your dad huh?" Naruto said scaring Inari.

The younger boy jumped and tried to hide the picture but Naruto was quicker and took it as he looked at it more closely.

"Give that back!" Inari yelled at him.

"Why? So you can hide it away and pretend he never existed like it seems everyone else in this village has?"

"Shut up, you don't know anything. You come into this country saying you'll change things but you can't, no one can."

Naruto didn't say anything as he went to looking at the picture, "He looks like a good person, you both look really happy in this. Somehow I doubt he would want to see you crying like this."

Inari snatched back the photo, "You don't know anything."

"You keep saying that but you're wrong," Naruto said to him as he gave a quick look behind him. He knew that he shouldn't say anything but the boy needed to know that he did understand him in a way.

"You see," Naruto said looking at the boy, "I know what it's like to loose family."

Inari looked at him for a moment, "You're mom?"

Inari figured that since Kakashi was his father it would have to be his mother but he still didn't understand why Naruto thought that he could understand him. Inari's father had been seen as a hero to the village but then Inari's hero had been murdered right in front of him.

"I lost both my birth parents," Naruto said him and he could see the surprise and confusion in the younger boy's face. "Kakashi adopted me, all I have of my parents are their names, a picture and something else."

"My mother died giving birth to me and my father, he died protecting our village. He was looked at as the great hero for our village too."

"Yeah but he died, heroes don't die," Inari said.

"Who says they don't die?" Naruto asked him. "In my village there is a monument to all the heroes of the village who died. They're mortal just like everyone else but it's what they do that makes them heroes. My father died protecting our village, he stood up against a...monster that was attacking our village and only he was the one that could kill it."

Naruto knew that he couldn't say exactly what happened but he could get it as close as he could. It was strange this was the first he really talked about what his father had done. He talked with Kakashi a few times about it but usually he only asked what his birth parents had been like. He never really talked about how his father had given up his life and his soul to seal a demon in his own son. It was kind of sad, since even in death Naruto would never know his father as Minato's soul was forever in the Shinigami's stomach. In a way it was like laying down a weight that he hadn't even known had been on his shoulders.

"My father did die, but what he did lasts forever. If he hadn't done what he had done my village wouldn't even be here. His actions saved many lives and my village will continue to live on because of it too, that's what makes a hero sometime. It's the sacrifices that a hero makes for those that he loves, those that are important to him even in the face of death."

"You father died for his village, the only thing that's different is that the village let him die for nothing. Your father acted like a hero and this place threw him away like he meant nothing." Naruto said seriously and Inari looked up at him as though he had been hit across the face.

"He must have loved you, he fought for you, your mom, your grandfather and for everyone in this village but what pisses me off is how this whole village just let it be for nothing. He gave everything for this village and they gave nothing back. But you know what? I may not know him but I won't let his sacrifice be for nothing and neither will anyone else whose with me."

Inari didn't say anything as he just looked at the picture of his father.

Naruto turned around to go out of the room but stopped for a brief moment, "Maybe it's time to stop being a cry baby and start fighting back."

Naruto decided to get some air after his talk with Inari, so he went to the roof but he was surprised to find someone already there, sitting on the top looking over the water as the sun was setting. He walked over to the person and sat down gently.

"Hey there Hinata-chan," He said quietly.

The girl nearly jumped surprised, "Oh, Naruto-kun I didn't notice you."

"Heh, well it has been a bit busy lately," He grinned at her as he looked back to the setting sun. "It's kind of nice."

Hinata gave a small smile and nodded as she looked at the setting sun.

"You remember that time we sat on your porch when we were kids? I think it was after your birthday and we were drinking something that your mom made," Naruto said all of a sudden remembering that day. They sat just like they are now, only drinking as they watched the sun set that day.

Hinata thought back and smiled at the memory, she too remembered that day. Those were simpler times back when her mother was still alive and she and Naruto played together nearly every day and when to school together. She missed those days, and most of all she missed how they had been together all those times. Ever since they were put on genin teams she hadn't seen as much of him, in fact this mission they were on was the most they had spent together in a very long time.

"I was thinking," Naruto said getting Hinata's attention, "Things aren't the same as we were before we made genin. I know my dad and the other adults told me the differences in how ninja missions were but until...until I thought you were dead the reality never set in."

"I thought I lost you and it really hurt," Naruto looked at the setting sun lost in his own thoughts. "All I was thinking about was that I wouldn't see you again and I kept thinking back to all the great times we had. I remember the first time we met in the park and you were hiding behind your mom's legs."

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said embarrassed at that.

Naruto chuckled, "Sorry but it was really funny, I'm glad you're not so shy anymore. But anyways, you're my closet friend I have and I don't want to lose you Hinata-chan."

Hinata blushed as she smiled a bit looking at her hands as she fiddled with her fingers. It was nice to hear how much she meant to him, although she did wish she meant a bit more but for her knowing how important she was made her feel happy.

"So...what were you going to say to me earlier?" Naruto asked her remembering when he had thought she was dying. "Back when, Haku put all those senbon needles into you?"

Hinata nearly jumped as she went wide eyed and blushed madly red, she had forgotten all about that. She had nearly confessed her true feelings for him and now he was asking her for what she hadn't finished. She was starting to panic now, she couldn't just tell him how she felt, she knew that he thought of her as his best friend and it might freak him out. Plus after all these years she was still so very shy.

"Hinata?" He asked moving his face right in front of hers they were now mere inches from each other's faces and Hinata's entire face turned a deep red. "Are you okay?"

He placed his hand on her forehead to see if she was running a fever, she did feel a little warm. Hinata on the other hand had something snap, she couldn't take it and the pressure to tell him and not tell him broke. She pulled back but too much and went falling, Naruto quickly grabbed her but her weight pulled him with her. Thankfully they were on a small flat patch of the roof so they didn't fall over the side. But what happened now was that Hinata had instinctively pulled on Naruto for support.

Naruto came forward and landed on top of her but that wasn't all, like what happened with Sasuke, Naruto's mouth landed on Hinata's. Both young teens lay there completely shocked, Naruto couldn't believe what he had just done. His mouth although was covered by his mask, didn't mean that he was technically kissing his best friend.

Hinata's mind was nearly gone at this point, for so long she had had fantasies of this moment. Of Naruto over her and kissing her just like this, well not exactly but this was the closest she had ever come to living out one of her dreams. She half closed her eyes wishing that this moment would never stop, her hands tightened a bit more on his clothing. She was feeling so light headed and happy at this moment.

Naruto finally jerked back looking down at her shocked and scared, "Oh man I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that!"

Naruto blinked a few times when Hinata didn't say anything. "Uh...Hinata-chan, are you okay?"

Looking down he could see that Hinata had her eyes closed she had on a light blush on her cheeks and a smile on her face. She was mumbling something that he couldn't make out as well. He knew that Hinata had fainting spells for the longest time, and a part of him was hoping that she wouldn't get mad at him for accidentally kissing her like that.

"Well this is new," Kakashi said from behind them making Naruto jumped in shock. "I came up to get you two and here you are, since when did you two become an item?"

"We're not!" Naruto said although he was blushing under his mask. "I just fell on her!"

Kakashi had a look on his face that clearly said he didn't believe it, "Uh huh, well just remember the hints from my books but nothing with the adult stuff. You two aren't old enough for that and I'm too young to be a grandfather and her father will kill you if you tried anything."

"We're not doing anything!" Naruto shouted at him.

Kakashi just gave that perverted giggle of his, "Oh sure, but you might want to hurry. I don't think Kurenai will enjoy this scene as much as me, you know she feels about Hinata."

Naruto paled at the thought of what Kurenai would do to him if she thought he was taking advantage of Hinata like this. He had learned very early on that women were scary when mad and especially those trained as a ninja, that opened up all kinds of doors. He looked down at Hinata and sighed, he would have to carry her down and try and sneak her into one of the rooms. He really didn't want anyone to notice because he would have to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions.

He picked her up bridal style and he looked down at her peaceful face, he hoped that she wouldn't be pissed at him when she woke up. Then to his surprised she shifted in his arms and buried herself into his chest. He felt himself blush deep red and tried not to think of how soft her lips seemed through his mask and wondered how they felt without it.

He shook his head, _'Bad thoughts, this is Hinata you're friend since you were kids. You do not think of your best friend in that way.'_

At least that's what he kept telling himself while he carried her off the roof.

**-Gato's Hideout-**

Gato wasn't a patient man, he wasn't a lot of things actually but patience was something he had lacked for a long time. It had been a week and he was getting sick and tired of his hired ninja playing nurse made to that little boy of his. He didn't understand why the man was wasting so much time and effort, the boy had barely woken up at all and with all the money the ninja was spending on doctors and medicine he was starting to think that this ninja was too expensive.

Beside the huge fee he had already partially paid for, the medical bills that Zabuza was putting on his bill to Gato was nearly equal to the second half of the payment that they had agreed to for this job. It was looking like his investment of the ninja wasn't paying off.

He walked into the room that Zabuza had taken over since his return a week ago, Gato also walked in with a few of his hired men as well just in case.

"What the hell are you still doing here?" Gato demanded seeing the ex-mist ninja at the boy's side. "You should have killed that old man days ago but here you are still caring for this weakling?"

Zabuza turned his head and the look he gave Gato made the small man take a small step back and made his guards slightly reach for their weapons. Although Zabuza's massive sword was leaning against a wall the man's reputation did warrant them to be careful.

Gato recovered himself and moved to the other side of the bed to keep out of the man's reach. He looked at the still form on the bed in contempt. "This is costing me too much money and time, I thought you were some hard core killer so why are you babying this failure? Just kill the kid and get rid of him and kill the old man, is that so hard?"

Zabuza glared at the shorter man, "Haku is mine to do with as I please, if he is to die that will be up to me and not up to you. As for the old man, he's got two teams protecting him and even someone of my skills fighting two jonins isn't easy. Especially when one of them is a legend like me, and I had Haku the last time I faced them so now I'm at a greater disadvantage. I'll deal with it when I'm good and ready and when I have it planned out."

Then Zabuza stood up as he towered over Gato, "Now get the hell out of here before I decided that you're too annoying to keep that tongue of yours."

Gato flinched as he quickly walked to his men and they exited the room. Gato was fuming now, no one talked to him like that. The man was just some pathetic ninja that was on the run, while Gato was on his way up in the world. Scum like Zabuza should know their place in the world.

"Boss?" one of the men asked seeing their employer's face.

"It seems that if you want something done right I'll have to do it another way." Gato said. "I hired those ninja to help get rid of that old man when I heard he went to Konoha. But so far it seems that ninja are overrated. I already have that town in the grip of my hand so maybe it's time to remind them of that."

He turned to one of the men, "I want you to start hiring to any man that can carry a sword for a special job. Get as many as you can for the usual prices and bring them here, I want the most brutal ones you can get. We're going to bring in an army to that town and wipe those ninja out and the old man as well. Then we'll ensure that the town remembers why they should fear me."

Gato then looked to the other man on his other side, "I'm going to get more men here and when I come back we're going to get rid of that trash in there and his boy. I'm tired of this and he's out lived his usefulness."

"Right boss," he man said.

What they didn't know was that Zabuza was against the door and he heard every word. His eyes narrowed as it seemed that he now needed new plan before Gato's men came back. He wasn't really too worried about himself but in the confines of this room he couldn't protect Haku that well. He knew that Haku was still recovering and moving him could be very bad for him but he had no choice. They couldn't stay here but where to go?

After thinking about it there was only one way, he hated it but it looked like he was going to have to swallow his pride, at least for Haku he would.

**Next up Chapter 39: New Alliances**


	39. New Alliances

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 39: New Alliances**

In Gato's heads quarters one his Lieutenants was marching to the room that the ninja and the boy were using with a large group of hired killers as well. He had gathered up some of the worse types of people he could find as he wanted to make sure that this ninja was killed. They would have to rush him with the best killers he could find. They walked over to the door as their leader stopped, he was a bit nervous after all he had heard the stories about this guy.

"So is he in there?" One of the new guys asked.

"Yes and be quit, the food we sent in was laced with a drug that should knock him out but just in case he didn't take it we need to go in there and hack the big bastard down. Then we can deal with the boy on the bed as well once the big one is taken care of." The lieutenant told them.

"Oh come on it's not like he's expecting this and he's only one man." Another said grinning at the thought of an easy pay check for this.

The group's leader was about to make a comment on that but he never got that far, as Zabuza's sword suddenly came through the door and right through the leader and two of the others, while cutting the arm off another. Cries of pain and death sounded as the door suddenly split open as Zabuza himself stormed out. He saw the shocked and surprised faces, that was good for him he liked it when they were scared.

He had noticed the drug in the food, only a genin wouldn't notice that kind of trick, hell he had used that trick before himself on certain targets when he couldn't get close as did many in his line of work. So he had been waiting for this, he had put a chair by the door waiting for the men to come. Once they were close enough he would attack them first to throw them off, then it was a simple matter of hacking the rest to pieces.

Which led to this moment as he swung his huge sword throwing the bodies off the blade and managed to cleave through a few more men, there were shouts and people yelling and total chaos, this was bad for them but good for him. One man against a group was bad odds but when that group was disoriented it turned the odds in his favor.

"Come and meet your death," Zabuza yelled at he tore into the group. He showed no mercy as with his large sword gave him a long reach, a couple tried to get under his blade but a punch here or a kick there to get rid of that problem, sometimes he broke a rib or kicked a knee to bend in a way that wasn't meant for a human knee to bend. That caused more problems for them as now they had men on the floor trying to get around the ones rolling on the ground in pain.

Zabuza also had another thing to worry about, he had to cover the doorway in case someone got by him and tried to use Haku against him as a hostage. So he didn't let it happen, he cut, sliced, hacked his enemies to pieces. The blood flowed and flew as the room was starting to be painted in the blood of his enemies as he was being painted in the red blood as well, making him look every bit the 'demon' that he was nicknamed.

He could smell the fear in the air as their confidence dropped, that was when they were truly dead. When you thought you were going to die and didn't fight for survival you were as good as dead, and he could sense that in them. Some of them started to run away for help at least the smart ones did, the rest he finished off. By the time he was the done the place looked literally like hell itself.

He was breathing a little hard and his arms started to ache but years of using his sword had made him strong enough to have kept swinging for an hour. But he had little time now, he quickly went back into his room and got the chair he had been sitting on and threw it at the large window breaking the glass. He went over to Haku's bed and putting his sword on his back he gently picked up the boy in his arms.

Zabuza had taken care to prepare Haku for travel, he immobilized him as much as he could wrapping the boy's arms to his chest and making sure the wound was tightly bonded up too. The boy moaned a bit in pain and he was sorry for that but they couldn't stay here anymore. He positioned him as best he could in his arms before jumping out the window and making his way to the only place he might be able to take Haku.

**-Wave Village-**

Sakura wasn't sure what was going on but there was something going on with two of her friends. Naruto and Hinata had been acting weird around each other for the past few days. Hinata would blush even more at the sight of Naruto and he would look a little sheepish around her as well. Something was up but when she pressed them for something they wouldn't say what exactly.

It was frustrating not knowing and so she took her frustrations out on her training. She had so far mastered the water walking and was building up her chakra now, as controlling her chakra was something she had always been good at. She wanted to learn some more justus and Kurenai was able to help her with refining her genjustu skills but she needed to learn a bit more. Mainly something more offensive would be helpful.

Sakura had also taken to practicing with her tonfas in the woods as well, after her last training session she was tired, sweaty and a certain tree now had pieces of the bark removed from all the hits. Her arms felt dead afterwards as she kept her wrist weights on but it was good for her.

She sighed as she sat on the ground taking a break and a nice cold drink from her canteen. She closed her eyes as she rested against the tree, all in all this land wasn't bad although she hoped that the village would recover. Every day she helped Tsunami with her shopping and every day it broke a bit of her heart at seeing how the people lived. She still remembered that little girl that asked for food, her body looked like the girl hadn't eaten much in days and Sakura was most likely right.

There was also another reason she was working so hard, mainly to try and not think about her own little problems. Mainly that she had given up on having more than a friendship with Naruto and now the whole thing with Sasuke just left the girl feeling depressed.

'_Maybe I should just focus more on my ninja life,'_ Sakura sighed.

'_**Hell no! You can't give up now, I say we get stronger and then Sasuke-kun will have to notice us!' **_Inner Sakura told her.

'_You think that might work?'_

'_**Well if we can't ask him out he didn't say anything about asking us out,'**_ Her inner self said.

To Sakura that actually made a little sense but then she had no idea what Sasuke even liked. She remembered that rumor that he liked long hair and nearly all the girls had grown it out, Ino being one of them. But Naruto had said he liked her hair the way it was and she had liked him a bit back then too, plus Sasuke didn't seem interesting in long hair. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember any girl that caught his interests.

'_**Maybe we should ask for some help?'**_

'_From who though?'_ Sakura thought about it.

For relationship advice maybe Kurenai would be nice, it would be good to get another female ninja's views on it. Plus, Sakura bet that Kurenai had to have a lot more experience in this given she was an adult. But who to ask what Sasuke liked? She couldn't go right up to him and ask because she doubted he would answer and it would be pretty silly.

'_**Maybe Naruto would know?'**_

'_You think?'_

'_**Well, he and Sasuke train a lot together and maybe because they're boys they would share or talk about girls?'**_

Sakura doubted it but it wasn't like she had anything else to go on, and even though Naruto and Sasuke never seemed to get along, as far as she knew, Naruto was the closest thing to a friend that Sasuke had.

"S-Sakura?"

Sakura was pulled out of her thoughts by the familiar stutter of her friend Hinata. She looked over to see the girl playing with her index fingers like she normally did.

"A-are you okay?" Hinata asked seeing Sakura's rather haggard look.

"Yeah I'm just taking a break from training," Sakura told her. "I really need to keep up with my teammates and it's not easy. Sasuke-kun's like a natural and with Naruto's stamina and the way he works himself to death, I need to keep up or I won't be any use to them."

Hinata nodded knowing what it was like to live up to high expectations. She sat down next to the other girl, they had known each other for years and she and Ino were the only two girls that Hinata was friends with. It was nice to have some female company at times as well.

"So...what's going on with you and Naruto?" Sakura asked as this was her chance to find out what was going on.

"H-Huh!?" Hinata blushed bright red.

"Oh come on, you and him have been acting all weird and the others may not notice but I have. So come on what's going on? You two aren't fighting or anything are you?"

"N-no it's nothing like that," Hinata said quickly.

"Well come on, you might feel better if you tell me." Sakura asked her nicely.

Hinata thought about it, she hadn't really talked to someone and keeping it all in wasn't really helping her either. She eventually broke and told the other girl what had happened on the roof.

"You two kissed!?" Sakura couldn't believe it, sure it was an accident but she knew of Hinata's crush on Naruto, and the girl finally got her first kiss with him. The romantic side of her was going nuts with images of the two of them in a romantic setting.

"B-But it was an accident, we even talked about it." Hinata told her.

_-flashback-_

_It was the morning after the kiss and both teens had been having trouble even looking the other in the eye. Hinata kept blushing more than usual when she locked eyes with him and felt like feinting when she thought back to Naruto's mouth on hers. Her heart would skip several beats faster and she couldn't look at him for too long before she felt like she couldn't take anymore. Naruto was kind of the same as he blushed lightly thinking back on that day. _

_Eventually it was just getting too much and Naruto managed to catch Hinata along at the end of the day._

"_Hey Hinata-chan can we talk?" Naruto asked her._

"_S-sure," Hinata wasn't able to say more than that in fear that she wouldn't be able to talk anymore._

"_Are you mad at me?" he asked._

"_H-huh?"_

"_I mean you won't look at me or even talk to me so I figured that you were mad," Naruto said looking down. The last thing he wanted was for Hinata of all people mad at him, if she was mad that made it feel like he had just gotten kicked in the guts by a horse._

"_N-no! I'm not mad Naruto-kun really!" She was really didn't want him to think that she was mad at him. _

"_So then why have you been avoiding me?" Naruto wondered._

"_W-well it's just that, you know, when we, um..." Hinata pushed her index fingers together trying to explain it. _

"_Was it a bad kiss?" Naruto scratched his head._

"_No!" Hinata instantly covered her mouth as her eyes widened._

"_Well that's good," Naruto chuckled, "I hate to think it was a bad kiss but it was a lot better than the last one I got."_

_Hinata couldn't help but giggle at the disgusted face he made as she too remembered that day. _

"_Hey it's not that funny," Naruto whined._

"_S-sorry," Hinata said with a small smile. _

"_So...it was a good kiss then?" Naruto asked as she blushed so red he thought she that was a good sign. "Well I hope this doesn't ruin our friendship I mean you're one of the most important people in my life."_

"_Y-you're important to me too," Hinata said giving a small yet warm smile._

"_Good then still best friends right?" Naruto smiled at her with his eyes closed looking very much like the kind of smile that Kakashi gave._

_Although she would love to be more than friends, his friendship was something that she never wanted to lose._

"_Yes, still friends," she told him._

_-End Flashback-_

Sakura sighed hearing this, "You know you really need to tell him how you really feel."

"I-I want to but every time I try I just, well..." Hinata trailed off.

"Yeah we all know," Sakura said to her. "You know in a way we're the complete opposites. You can't tell the boy you like how you feel and when I tell the boy I like, he just ignores it."

Hinata hug her head slightly depressed now, she really did want to tell Naruto but she just couldn't get the courage to do it. It was bad enough that he saw her training that one night, something that she was still embarrassed about and hoped that Naruto never found out that was her. Then there was the kiss, something she had dreamed of all this time and yet not exactly the magical moment she had hoped for. And Sakura, one of the girls who had come a long way since their childhood as the pink haired friend had had the same confidence problems that Hinata had. While Hinata had gotten a bit better, Sakura was the most changed and yet she too couldn't seem to get the boy she liked.

"But you know what?" Sakura suddenly said getting Hinata's attention. "I'm not going to give up, I know what I like and I'm going for it. Besides if he doesn't like me...then I guess I can move on but not until I said that that I've done everything I could and so should you."

"M-me?"

"Of course, you're not going to let me make an oath like that alone are you?" Sakura smiled at her.

Hinata thought about it for a moment and then nodded her head, somehow she would find the courage to tell Naruto how she felt one day she was sure of it.

"As much as this little display of kunoichi is very touching it's making me sick to my stomach."

They both jumped and got up quickly and when they saw who it was they both froze. Standing not ten feet away was Zabuza and he was carrying Haku with him. Both young girls weren't sure what to do because they both knew that if this man wanted to kill them both he could do so easily.

"Relax I'm not here to fight," he said coldly to them. "Take me to Kakashi and that other woman, I want to talk terms with them."

**-Later-**

Kakashi and Kurenai had just finished their talk with Zabuza, it wasn't exactly the easiest conversation as everyone was tense. When he had first shown up with Haku in his arms both jonin teachers were on their guard just in case. They heard what Zabuza told them about how Gato had tried to kill him and Haku and the man's plans for hiring an army to attack the town. Kakashi and Kurenai both had been paying attention to both his story and his body language.

Being a ninja meant you picked up a lot of different skills and to be a jonin you usually had many on hand, one of them was the ways to pick up when someone was lying. Unfortunately another trait was how to lie and is was safe to assume that Zabuza knew how to lie and not be caught as well. It was just one of those circular logical problems that happened in the ninja world.

Kakashi decided to take things at another angle, this man wouldn't come to them with such a story just to get them to lower their guard and kill them in their sleep. When you fought someone you got a good idea of the kind of person they were. Zabuza was the type to come at you head on or even sideways but deception like this wasn't the type of style he had. Plus Kakashi had seen the man with the boy, it was in the eyes. Zabuza actually cared what happened to Haku, which in itself was surprising to Kakashi as the stories about the man said he didn't care about anyone or anything.

'_I guess even a demon can have a heart,'_ Kakashi thought as he took all this in. All in all he came to the conclusion that Zabuza wasn't lying to them and now they may have solved one problem but now had a whole new one.

"So then you came to us of all people?" Kakashi surmised.

"It's not like I had a lot of choices," Zabuza said sounded irritated about the whole thing. "Besides I had hoped someone had some medical training to help and I can't take Haku too far with his injury."

"We only have basic field training but we'll do what we can," Kurenai told him.

Zabuza nodded it wasn't what he had hoped for but it had been a long shot even when he made the choice.

"Maybe we can work out a deal," Kakashi said thinking about it. "We got a lot of enemies coming here soon and a lot of innocent people could be hurt or killed, so if you agree to help us out I can sent a message to Konoha to sent a medic nin here for the boy. With that he can make a full recovery."

"I have your word on that?" Zabuza said.

Kakashi nodded, "Yes, we're no longer enemies it seems so I might as well use you to help us and also help you in return."

"Fine," Zabuza simply said.

"Good, now I think we should make up a plan for the defence of the village," Kurenai said as they started to plan out what they would do.

While they were planning, Naruto was looking in on Haku. The boy had been in and out of consciousness as the genin had taken turns looking after him. Hinata seemed to be helpful as she was out looking for herbs to help and had some of her healing salves. They weren't top notch healing items but every little bit helped. Naruto was also glad that he worked things out with Hinata

He sighed thinking about that he really needed to get over this, it was just a kiss right? Okay so it was his first girl kiss and it hadn't been bad or nothing it was just that she had been his best friend for so long he didn't think of her as a 'girl' in that way. Okay she was cute but she would never think of him in that way would she? Plus he was still haunted by that girl on the water he couldn't stop thinking about her, hell he was still having dreams about that girl.

Naruto just sighed thinking that life was just way too complicated these days.

"You look really serous at the moment you know that?" a soft voice spoke up.

"Huh, hey you're awake," Naruto smiled at the boy. He looked a little pale and weak but so far Haku looked like he was doing better. "You look pretty good for a guy who had a hole put into his chest, you're lucky my dad pulled away at the last moment or you really would be dead."

"Yes, I'm surprised I lived," Haku had been in and out of it for days. He was surprised that Zabuza had kept him and was caring for him, he was just a tool wasn't he?

"Yeah well it looks like Zabuza was taking good care of you and we made a deal with Konoha to send to a medic team. My dad plans to send one of his ninja dogs with a message later today with what's going on, he would have sent it sooner but he didn't want a team to be jumped by more forces."

He had heard how Kakashi explained that he was unwilling to put others into more danger, they were two full teams (granted only genin teams) but he had no way of knowing if Zabuza would have been patrolling the route to the village or any other forces that Gato had. Now with Zabuza on their side for the time being, they had enough intelligence for Kakashi to give that to the Hokage so the team on the way would be able to avoid any dangers.

Haku was silent a moment as he stared up at the ceiling.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not sure why I'm still alive, I'm just a broken tool now. I'm worthless to him so why did he save me?" Haku asked confused.

"You know that kind of talk really pisses me off," Naruto told the boy, "I mean we're people first and if you really want to know it's that he cares about you. I don't know exactly how things are but you know in a really, really weird and strange way it's kind of like he's your dad."

Haku's eyes widened quickly at that, his own father had tried to kill him and ended up killing his own mother.

"Oh come on the guy took you in, trained you and raised you," Naruto said smiling. "You want to know a secret? Kakashi did the same thing to me so in a way we're both the same."

Haku looked at the masked boy as he thought about it, it was a strange concept to think of Zabuza as a father figure but not an unpleasant one, in fact he had more memories of Zabuza than he had of his own family. And when he looked into the eyes of the boy next to him he could see that his eyes were very familiar. They were eyes that knew loss, pain and yet what it was like to be taken in as well.

"You have someone precious to protect don't you?" Haku asked him.

Naruto was taken aback from the question, "Yeah I got lots of people. I mean there's my dad, the Old Man, then I got a few crazy people that I like to call my aunt and uncle, my friends and Hinata-chan."

Haku smiled at that, "That's good to know. You know true power comes from the need to protect those precious to you that's where real strength comes from and with so many people to protect I can see that you'll get very strong."

"Heh heh," Naruto laughed rubbing the back of his head. "Thanks."

"So...can you tell me more? I never really got to talking with others before," Haku asked him.

Naruto nodded as he started up with his life, then went into his family and friends and even his best memories of them as well. Haku told him about the Mist village and his life on the road with Zabuza, well the good parts and not the missions. Overall it was a good time for both young boys and both felt that they had met someone that could understand them in ways that others couldn't, even if they didn't totally understand it themselves.

They were still talking when Kiba came in to relieve Naruto but the boy just said he had it covered. Kiba shrugged as it meant some free time for him so he was all for it, he just got them some lunch and that was it. It was weird as how Haku had not that long ago been their enemy and there was Naruto making friends like the boy was an old friend. Kiba had to admit that Naruto had a talent for making friends, he still remembered the day he met the blonde at the academy.

That had been a rocky start but later Kiba thought he was a good guy, but there was still Zabuza. Now that was one scary guy, and he wasn't sure he could even sleep comfortably knowing that guy was around. He could already tell that it was going to be a long night tonight, plus from what they had heard from Kurenai, Gato was about to attack very soon as well.

'_Man when it rains it pours it seems,'_ Kiba thought as he wondered what he could do to kill a few hours.

**Next up Chapter 40: Gato's Attack**


	40. Gato's Attack

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 40: Gato's Attack**

The ninja were gathered around Tazuna and his family's dinner table as they were setting up their plans to defend the village. There were many little things to represent certain buildings or areas of the village as they planned it out. Kakashi and Kurenai had to admit it was strange working with Zabuza but the man knew the kind of people that Gato had and so far the plan was looking good.

"So then we're in agreement on the plan," Kakashi said looking it over one last time and then looked to Zabuza, "You're sure the attack will be today?"

"Not all the way but given that he tried to have me killed with Haku says he's ready," the former Mist ninja said.

As the adults were talking the genin were already preparing in another room, Team 7 was told to get rid of the weights on their wrists and ankles so that they would be able to move more freely and not to hamper their speed. While doing this both teams were preparing in different ways, Shino was communing with his bugs to help with planning out the possible things that could happen to them. Hinata was busy ensuring that her healing supplies were well stocked up as well in case anyone got injured as well as the few medical supplies they were keeping here as well. Kiba was looking over his equipment with Akamaru asking the dog questions, mostly about which pills the dog felt he could handle if they were needed.

Team 7 was doing the same although they were also looking over their weapons as well. Sakura was polishing her metal tonfas checking for any weakness in the metal that could make the weapon break just in case. Naruto and Sasuke were working on their swords as well the atmosphere was pretty tense as no one was saying anything.

For Team 8 this would be their first major battle, Kiba was actually looking forward to it while Hinata was a bit more nervous, and Shino...well it was hard to tell with him what he was feeling. Team 7 had been through something like this before sure not as big as this but they were preparing themselves for the battle ahead.

Inari had been nervous about the whole thing although lately he had been thinking on things seeing kids, not much older than him preparing for battle was a little unsettling. He saw Naruto taking care of a sword with great care as the younger boy came closer to take a good look at it.

Naruto couldn't help but smile behind his mask at the boy's interest and looked at him. "Like it?"

"It looks pretty cool but it looks different then Sasuke's." Inari told him.

"Yeah it's a chakra blade it actually can channel chakra from the user. This belonged to my grandfather and then my father and now it's mine. It's served the Hatake family for three generations and now it's my turn to carry it." Naruto told him and he was proud to wield this blade. There was an untold amount of history with it and now it was his turn to add to that history.

Inari looked at the blade his eyes widening a bit more at the thought of the sword being in use for so long. It didn't look that old plus there was no damage on the blade either. Then he looked back to Naruto again. "Why are you guys doing this? I mean you don't have to risk your lives for us."

"Because it's the right thing to do, we were hired to protect your grandfather but we're taking a little leeway with our mission. In a way we're still protecting him but now we're just expanding how. I figure with Gato gone he'll be pretty well protected and if the village is safer for it than that's one hell of a nice bonus right? At least that's what I think my dad plans on telling to Hokage to explain all of this." Naruto gave the boy a wink to let him know the meaning behind his words.

Inari could only give a small smile knowing that the boy really meant.

**-Bridge-**

It was later in the day when Tazuna and his people were working on the bridge, so far things were going well and in a week the bridge should be finished. It was like a dream come true, one of if not the largest over water bridge was nearing completion and soon the village would have a direct trade route to the main land for the first time ever. They wouldn't need to 'relay' on shipping companies like Gato's anymore. Now trade caravans could make their way into the village on their own for once and since the bridge belonged to the village no company had any rights to it.

That meant that Gato couldn't sink his claws into it like he had with many other businesses in their land which was slowly choking his village into a slow death, although he knew that plan that didn't mean he wasn't nervous about all of this. There was just a lot riding on this and the waiting was nerve racking for the old man as well.

He sighed as he gave out orders to the workers, they may be the bait for this trap but there was still a bridge to build and no matter what he wasn't losing any time.

It wasn't until one of the workers came up behind him, "Hey Tazuna, I think we have company."

Tazuna turned around and there he could see a group of people walking towards them. He could see Gato out in front and his blood ran cold at the sight of the man. Normally he wasn't one to hate another person but in Gato's case he made an exception, this man had caused untold amounts of pain to his village and family. There was nothing more he would love to see than that man to get what was coming to him.

Gato stopped a few yards away with a grin on his face looking over the bridge. "It seems you never learn do you Tazuna? I would have thought my demonstration in town with that boy of yours would have stopped you from this foolishness. You were also lucky to make it back but this ends here old man, once you're gone I'm going to demolish this bridge and then the village will serve as an example for others."

"But first, where are those Konoha ninja?" Gato looked around but saw only construction workers.

Tazuna gave a small smile that left Gato confused.

"All around you," Tazuna said.

All the workers turned into puffs of smoke as they turned into Team 7, with the majority of them being shadow clones of Naruto who had put them into a henge. There was also Zanbuza as well grinning almost evilly under his bandages, in fact with the amount of killing intent he was giving off even those on his side were giving him some space.

Gato looked at the ninja in front of him; he hadn't planned on them being here let along Zabuza being here. Gato had thought the man when he heard the news of his escape would be on the run. Not once did he think he would actually join the other ninja.

It was obvious he was worried from the look on his face but he still had on a sly grin on his face. "You think you're all so smart, well by this time the village will be having a surprise with all of the rest of my men. I thought I had cowed this village but I guess they needed a reminder. Maybe if I take a member of each family they'll learn their lesson and I doubt the old fool can live with that kind of blood being spilt am I right?"

Tazuna looked a bit sickened at the thought, it was bad enough what had happened to his son in law but he knew that Gato wasn't bluffing. The man was the kind that could do something like that and not even lose a bit of sleep over it.

"You're a bigger fool than I thought," Zabuza said to him. "You honestly think all of the Konoha ninja are here?"

Back in the village the men that Gato hired started to terrorize the village, you could hear the shouts and cries of panic as the criminals busted into homes, or businesses. The people were running in the streets and some of men were carrying or dragging people into the streets but thankfully Team 8 was on the job to protect the village.

Kiba was with Akamaru on a rooftop as he saw a few men dragging out a family, as an Inuzuka he like the rest of his clan had strong ties to their families so seeing one being attacked only made him angry.

"Let's go Akamaru," he said giving the small dog a special pill of his. The puppy ate it and his fur turned red as he took on a more vicious look. Kiba got on all fours as his dog jumped unto his back.

"Beast Human Clone jutsu!" Kiba said as both he and Akamaru transformed. Kiba's nails and fangs grew out giving him a slightly feral look as Akamaru turned into an exact copy. It was a clan jutsu that made their dogs take on the forms of their owners and a bit of their dogs went into them enhancing them.

"Fang over fang!" Kiba cried out as they both jumped into the air and starting to spin, they looked like two mini-tornados as they flew into the group of thugs. The men scattered as they were hit by the Inuzuka team, their bodies covered in claw marks.

Shino was in another part of the town as he calmly looked over the scene, earlier he had used his bugs to mark all the civilians in the town with a special pheromone so his bugs would know who to protect and who to hurt. He raised his arms as swarms of black insects flew out over his area of the town, the criminals soon found themselves being covered in his bugs as they ate their chakra. It only lasted a moment but the men fell to the ground too weak to move.

He recalled his bugs to him and moved on to another section to defend.

Kurenai ended up trapping her opponents in mass illusions she wasn't as kind as her students as she slowly took out the hired criminals. The made them see their allies as enemies and she watched coldly and calmly as they killed their comrades not knowing the truth. When there was one left she easily came up behind him and slit his throat. Some may see what she did as cold and unfair but she was a ninja and at times things needed to get this dirty in order to win and protect others.

After she was done like the rest she went in search of others.

Hinata felt nervous, she never was one for violence but she knew what would happen if she did nothing. She still remembered how she froze in her first battle, she had done better the next time but this time there was a whole village to protect. She found a couple of hired swords chasing two children for fun apparently.

She jumped down in front of the men who looked on in amusement.

"Y-you will leave them and this village alone," She told them although she wished she hadn't stuttered or had put more force into her voice. The men just laughed at her and told her that she should have stayed home playing with her dolls.

Hinata readied herself as she activated her bloodline, she could see their chakra paths and they would learn that she may be the most gentle of the Hyuga clan she was in no means not a threat. They came in at her and they were surprised by the speed and agility she was showing by twisting out of their attacks. Her hands with lightning speed struck at their key chakra points. In a matter of seconds she had them both on the ground unable to move.

She cast a quick look to see the children had run off and she wished them well, a loud sound caught her attention as her eyes picked up more trouble a few blocks down as she ran towards it.

In another part of the village at Tazuna's home, his daughter and grandson could hear the sounds of the battle. Tsunami was worried, not only for her village but for her grandfather and the ninja he had hired. Inari looked up at his mother and he could see that she was worried sick. He on the other hand had a new found faith in Naruto and his friends.

"It will be okay mom," Inari told her and she gave a small smile. "I'm going to check on Haku okay?"

The small boy went up the stairs to where the injured ninja was still recovering. He looked in bad shape to the young boy and couldn't help but wonder at times how the older boy managed to hang on with a wound like that. He entered the door to see that Haku was asleep again, there was still some food left and he reached down to take it so it wouldn't spoil when he heard the commotion downstairs.

There was the sound of the door being forced open and his mother's scream. He heard the sounds of unfamiliar men's voices. There were the sounds of struggling and Inari ran downstairs, he saw the mess of the kitchen from the over turned table but he didn't see anyone. Then the sounds he noticed again were outside this time and so he ran out fearing for his mother. As soon as he got out the door he saw two men had his mother.

"Mom!" Inari yelled out trying to run to her but he had been in such a hurry he hadn't noticed a man had been by the door. He felt a strong hand grip him by the back of his neck as he tried in vain the thrash out of it.

"Inari, please don't hurt him!" Tsunami told their captors.

"Sorry lady but the boss says the old bridge builder is to pay for getting in the way, you and the kid are going to be the message," One of the men holding her told her without a hint of remorse at all.

The other one leered at her thinking, "You know the boss didn't say when to kill them and she's kind of pretty. You think he'd mind if we had some fun with her before we do her and the kid in?"

"Leave her alone!" Inari shouted out as one of the men licked the side of her face.

The men laughed but suddenly the one holding Inari gave a grunt as his body jerked and then fell forward. The last two men were stunned seeing their comrade fall down with a slim metallic object dug into the base of his skull at the neck. Everyone looked up to see a very haggard looking Haku there. He was barely standing up and he looked like he was in pain with the effort with a modified sling holding his arm.

Haku had woken up from the noise and it had been a major effort to even get this far, but these people had helped him when he had tried to kill a member of their own family. He felt that he owed a dept for this family plus he liked them as well.

"Who the hell are you!" One of the men demanded.

"You're death," Haku said simply and with his good hand threw the two senbons at the other men, both hitting them in the side of their eye as the small metal weapons impeded into their brains killing them instantly. Haku lost any strength he had left and sank to his knees unable to even stand up anymore.

Tsunami and Inari ran to the boy as the woman helped to keep the young man upright.

"What are you doing out of bed, you could have been killed." Tsunami said even though she was so grateful for the boy's help with his injury.

Haku gave a small smile, "I know but I had to help for all the kindness you've shown me."

"I'm more surprised you can even stand," Inari said to the pale looking boy.

Haku gave a small smile, "You know the secret to true strength? When you have something precious to you to protect, that's what gives you the strength to carry on no matter what."

Inari instantly thought back to his father, he thought back to that horrible day when he had seen him killed in front of the entire village. There had never been any fear in his eyes, in fact in one moment he had locked eyes with Inari and he had actually smiled. Inari didn't understand it then how his father could have endured all of that and why he fought Gato. But after what Haku said, maybe that was the reason why his father had never given up.

His father had never given in no matter what Gato's men had done to him. And now there was Naruto and his team and friends defending their village without showing the same fear. Inari then remembered how he had been acting since his father's death and he felt ashamed. His father wouldn't want him to be like that and thinking about his father he knew what he had to do.

Inari got up and started running to the house.

"Inari, what are you doing?" Tsunami asked her son.

"Something I should have done awhile ago." Inari told her getting the supplies he needed. The village for too long had been cowed under Gato's power but he was just one man. There were kids not much older than him putting their lives on the line for his village and how can they hold their heads up with pride if the village not once even tried to help? It was time for the village to get its pride and its honor back and he knew the way to do it.

**-Bridge-**

Back on the bridge Zabuza was hefting his large sword preparing to hack to pieces as many men as he had to, to get at Gato. The rest of the ninja team looked just as ready as well, there were a lot of them but they were just mercenaries. A ninja was far more deadly than any mercenary although with the numbers they had it would give them a bit of pause.

But only for a bit, Kakashi and Zabuza were there up front as both men readied themselves for the battle.

"Team 7 you know the plan, we're frontal assault, Naruto and Sasuke you're the middle and Sakura you're our defender for those that slip past." Kakashi ordered out calmly.

Team 7 went into action as the boys drew their swords spacing out to be on the outside while Sakura was centered in the formation at the back to protect Tazuna. They made a diamond shape formation as they waited for the mercenaries to charge, they didn't have to wait long. The men charged at them figuring with their numbers they didn't have anything to fear.

Zabuza and Kakashi showed them otherwise as they started to cut into the mercenaries. Zabuza like before used his massive blade to cut a bloody path of death through them, although the plan was for him and Kakashi to thin the group he still wanted to get at Gato. Kakashi had a kunai in each hand as he preferred to use his quickness and agility when fighting, he moved through the enemies dodging their attacks and using fatal counters.

Naruto and Sasuke gave each other a small look, Naruto grinned under his mask and gave the Uchiha a silent challenge. Sasuke noticed this and gave his usual smirk and got himself ready. Both boys had killed before and although Sasuke had an easier time he was remembering Kakashi's words to him earlier. Naruto was doing the same, he was controlling his breathing and preparing himself to kill again. He didn't want to but he was a ninja now. He would feel bad later at the moment he had people to defend and his team needed him.

Soon the men came through the holes in Zabuza and Kakashi's line. The boys were ready as they used their swords to deal with the enemies that came at them. Naruto had created a few clones to help with the defensive lines. He wished he could use his exploding clones but he didn't think Tazuna would appreciate the holes in the bridge. And his wind elements wouldn't really be good in tight quarters with allies so close, the same could use said with Sasuke as his fire techniques as well so the plan called for swords.

Sakura waited in her position, although a part of her hated being in the back they had to protect Tazuna. Plus she wasn't all that eager to go into a killing field, she had gotten over her first kill mostly but she didn't want to do it any time soon. She watched as Naruto and Sasuke were in the heat of battle using their swords to injure, incapacitate and even kill again. She swallowed hard trying to put those thoughts aside, the mission came first. She recalled the lessons in class about putting your emotions aside in a fight in order to get through it.

Soon a few men had managed to break through the second line of defence and were heading towards her. Most likely they viewed her as the least threatening, she remembered how Anko told her that because of her looks most would assume she wouldn't be much of a threat.

'_**Remember Sakura, you're not exactly the most intimidating looking ninja so they'll take it easy the trick is to use it. IF they make the mistake of thinking you're soft and easy then you have to make them pay for it. You'll only get a small opening before they realize the truth so hit them hard and fast kid.'**_

Sakura nodded to herself remembering Anko's words while she had been training under her in the use of the tonfas. The men came as her and Sakura could see them relax just like Anko said they would. She waited until they were close and then she unleashed her full fury, without her weights she was much faster and she hit a hell of a lot harder as well.

Cold metal soon met flesh or the metal of their blades, Sakura would feel or even hear bones cracking and breaking as he hit the weakest areas of their bodies. She broke their ribs, joints and the few times she got in a shot at the face their teeth and noses. It was hard work but thankfully Naruto had seen how many were getting through and sent a few of his clones as backup. She was thankful for that and made a mental note that when they got out of this whenever she gained enough chakra she would ask him if he could teach her that move.

Having an extra hand here and there was very useful but now was the time to concentrate on making sure they did survive this day.

Gato saw which way the battle was going after a while, he had thought that the ninja would be too busy protecting the village. His plan to keep the them busy with the village as he killed Tazuna was ruined now, without the client the ninja would have no reason to stay and as soon as they left the remainder of his men were to come back then. Now he would have to flee while he could and hope there was enough men left to start on a new plan.

He turned around to get off the bridge but stopped when saw what was coming towards him on the other side. There was a group of people coming his way but they weren't his men, they were the village and Team 8 was leading the way.

While Team 7 had been busy, Inari had managed to gather up the villagers. After they had seen how Team 8 was fighting for them and some choice words from Inari the villagers had finally managed to find the courage to stand up to Gato. Those that could fight gathered what they could and went to help Team 8, and with their help they quickly managed to wipe up the rest of Gato's men. After they were done Kurenai led them as quickly as they could to the bridge to see if Kakashi's team would need any help.

By the time they got there they could see that Gato's men were in trouble and the man himself was trying to get away.

Gato backed up a few steps as the people were getting closer. Gato was thinking that there had to be a way out of this, maybe he could bargain with them it was worth a shot. Although by the looks of the villagers he was starting to doubt that, he still couldn't believe that things had gotten so bad.

Kurenai was in the lead as the villagers were halted a few yards from Gato.

"Gato, you have serious crimes to pay for," Kurenai said to him. "Murder, extortion, and violence, just to name a few."

"Go ahead and arrest me then," Gato grinned as he found his way out. With his money and resources he could buy his freedom. Sure it wouldn't be cheap and he might do some jail time but nothing too bad and he could use the time to plan his revenge as well.

"Sorry but I'm not letting you off that easy," a familiar voice said making Gato break out in fear as he turned around.

To the man's horror there was Zabuza running towards him, the ninja's eyes were like a blazing fury of hellfire as he came at the man.

"No one tries and double cross me Gato, and it's time for this demon to send you to hell!" Zabuza yelled out as his blade came down and literally cut Gato in half. It was a gruesome scene to most there that weren't used to such violence. Hinata felt sick just looking at it, Shino didn't say anything but even he had a shocked expression on his face. Kiba was at a lost for words for a moment as he stared at the bloody mess that used to be a person.

"Oh man...that was the most brutal thing I've ever seen," Kiba muttered to himself.

After seeing their boss killed the few remaining hired men decided to hope for mercy and surrender.

**Next up chapter 41: Mission's End**

**So sorry for the wait, had computer problems and then life kept me busy. Well after this the next arc will take place before the chunin exams and focus a bit more on the characters and relationships, so yes you'll finally see the Naruto/Hinata and other pairings as well. I know it was a long way but honestly I had a lot to build up.**


	41. Mission's End

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 41: Mission's End**

After the battle of the bridge the surviving men that Gato had hired were taken and placed into a storage building until the proper authorities could take them away for trail. After that and some clean up the entire village was celebrating, after Gato's death it was like an entire weight had been lifted from all their lives. Being in constant fear and poverty had taken its toll on them all and now they had an excuse to celebrate.

All over the village people were laughing and having fun, they were still poor but now with Gato out of the way they could start up their businesses again without giving Gato his cut, which was where most of their profits had gone to.

The genin were also living it up mostly, as everyone saw the Konoha ninja as heroes of the village.

There was one ninja that wasn't celebrating however and that was Zabuza, he wasn't really a party type of guy and was sitting on the house of the bridge builder working on his blade. He had cleaned all the blood and gore off it and now he was sharpening it as he had done countless times.

"What do you want Hatake," Zabuza asked not even looking at his blade.

Kakashi wasn't surprised that Zabuza had sensed him after all the man had been in Mist's version of ANBU.

"Just wondering why you're up here instead of taking part of the celebrations." He said without a care.

"Hn, I tried to kill the old man and they want to throw a party with me? No thanks, besides I'm not a people person." He told Kakashi looking at his work.

Kakashi nodded himself as he looked over the village, a part of him was glad that they had fulfilled the mission as they had. Too many times he had seen too much death and destruction it was a bit nice to finally see the good that could come out of missions like this. He only wished he could see how much better the village would become.

"You're still sending the medics right?" Zabuza had the slight hint of a threat in his words giving Kakashi a reminder of what happened to the last man that tried to screw him over.

"They should be arriving soon enough," Kakashi said honestly. "But the big question is what will you do now?"

That had been something the missing-nin had been thinking about since he got up on the roof. Once Haku was healed he wasn't exactly sure plus there was the problem of hunter ninja showing up while the kid was healing too.

"Honestly...not sure. We'll have to be on the move again as soon as he's ready with the price on my head."

Kakashi nodded again, trying to kill a Kage was a major crime in the ninja world. Normally when a ninja went rogue if they didn't go out on their own they tried to join another village. But for his crime no village would trust him and even if they did, it could mean war with Mist. That village wouldn't stand for anyone helping someone that tried to kill their leader and would go to any lengths for it.

Kakashi had been thinking about this as well, it wasn't like he could just join Konoha. First off the elders on the council would have a fit, plus Konoha was enjoying its peace and war with Mist of all places was something many avoided. It wasn't defeat as more of the bloody cost that deterred war with them, after all there were no other ninja village that turned out more blood thirty ninja then they did.

"So you'll be hunted until you're dead huh," Kakashi said more of a statement than a question.

"Unless I can gather the funds to bring up an army with me, but I was running low before Gato and with him gone it's going to be tough." The Mist nin told the man.

Kakashi was silent a moment before he said something, "What if you were dead?"

"What?"

"Well," Kakashi put his hands into his pockets looking up, "what if I said in my report that you were killed? Word would get out and they would drop the hunt."

Zabuza knew there was more to it than just that, "What's the catch?"

"Well I'll need something from you, you're headband with your blood on it should do. But in order for this to work you'll have to disappear like say...some out of the way village that would hide you." Kakashi smirked as he could see his words reaching the other man. "Plus you'll have to hide your sword and change your looks, thankfully most people I bet don't know you by your face as like me you like to keep it covered."

"Even if I do this, and that's a big if...what the hell am I going to do here?"

Kakashi made an effort of looking like he was thinking hard when he had already had an answer before he even came up here. "Well I doubt all of Gato's men were captured and I think this village could use a man to help protect them. Plus this land has no hidden village so I think a man like yourself can find much work here."

Zabuza went back to his sword to think on that, logically it was the best option. He could get plenty of work but he would have to give up his name and everything that went with it. He closed his eyes thinking hard on that, was there anything really worth keeping of his old life? Ever since that boy's words when Haku had been injured he could feel a change in him. He wasn't sure of what kind of change but he knew he couldn't continue as he had up to this point. Plus Haku needed to rest and running around the known world always trying to be one step ahead wouldn't be good for him.

"I'll...think about it," Zabuza said.

"Sure thing no pressure, but there is one more thing I would like to know. Call it, professional curiosity." Kakashi said.

"What is it?"

"Why did you try and kill the Mizukage of Kirigakure?"

Zabuza wasn't sure if he should say or not, Kirigakure was very secretive. In fact no one knew who the Mizukages were outside of the Mist village and how many there had been. The land like its name was shrouded in secrecy. It was ingrained into all the ninja the importance of this but then again he wasn't a ninja of that village anymore. After some debating he figured there was no harm in it, besides if it pissed off the new Kage then so be it.

"It's because our current Mizukage is an outsider." Zabuza said and he could see the shock on Kakashi's face. An outsider becoming a Kage was unheard of in the ninja world. "He came into the village years ago, he wore a strange mask with only one single eye hole in it. He called himself Izuna at the time but I doubt that's his real name."

Zabuza paused as he remembered those days. "We don't take to intruders very well and we sent out best out after him...he killed them all without an effort. He called out our Kage and the two fought, I don't know where he came from but the truth is, he's better than me. I saw him kill out Kage like it was nothing and he claimed the title. Of course others fought this but they soon died, he promised that under his leadership he could give us true power in the ninja world."

"I for one never accepted him as our leader, and neither did most of the Seven Swordsmen. We tried our hand at defeating him, but we lost. Several of us died that day while the rest fled."

Kakashi took all that in, so far it fit with a few of the reports and stories that Konoha intelligence managed to scrap together. But the fact that someone that powerful had taken over an entire village wasn't good news. He knew that the Hokage and the council would need that kind of information for the future. Kakashi looked over the city and he didn't feel like celebrating anymore after hearing this.

**-A few Days Later-**

After a few days the bridge had been finished and the entire village had come out to say goodbye to the Konoha ninja. Kakashi and Kurenai had both taken their students aside and told them what was going to happen with Zabuza and Haku and they were asked to swear to never speak the truth. If anyone ever asked them about Zabuza they were to say that Kakashi and Kurenai killed him on the bridge and Haku had died earlier from his injuries.

As the town went to say goodbye to them, Haku was there in a wheelchair. The medic team would be arriving in a few hours so he could finally get his injuries healed. Zabuza was there although it was a surprise to see him, he didn't wear anything over his face and was wearing some civilian clothing he got. He looked more like some large fisherman now and he didn't look too happy about it.

Inari went up to Naruto looking sad so see the older boy leaving, "Will you ever come back?"

"I'll try and visit when I can," Naruto smiled at him. "Besides someone has to look after Haku while I'm gone and I'm trusting you with that, okay?"

Inari looked up with a small smile on his face as he nodded his head.

Haku gave a small laugh at hearing that although he didn't mind. After all he was living in the same home and he got along well with Inari and his family. Haku then exchanged some words with Naruto as well as both boys swore they would keep in touch. Everyone said goodbyes as both teams left on the newly finished bridge.

"So what are you going to call the bridge?" Tsunami asked her father.

He had been thinking about that for a long time actually and after he gave a few ideas (all which were flat out rejected) he came up with something else, "well then how about the Great Konoha Bridge in memory of all of them?"

Zabuza groaned taking Haku back as he heard the agreements although Haku seemed pleased by the name.

About a couple of hours outside of the village the teams were making their way home looking forward to it. Hinata was glad to see her village again as well, she never expected things to get to crazy when they first started this mission but she felt better for doing it. She still felt sick when she thought about the death she had seen. While in the battle she and her teammates had seen the bodies that their sensei had left behind and it had been the first time she had seen death. It got even worse when she had seen Gato's death.

She hadn't eaten dinner after that one but Sakura had seen her and taken her aside for a talk. She was surprised how the two of them were getting closer on the mission although she had always been friends with Sakura and Ino this was the first time she really started to feel close to the other girl. After some talking she had felt a bit better after that.

But now Hinata just wanted to see her family again and she was wondering how things were while she was gone. She was so lost in thought she hadn't noticed something coming out of the bushes and started to follow her a bit.

"Hey Hinata, looks like your old friend is back," Kiba said getting everyone's attention.

Hinata looked around and there behind her was that same little white rabbit from before. Hinata was surprised to see the little rabbit again and knelt down. The rabbit took a few hesitant steps before sniffing her out stretched hands. She giggled feeling it tickle her hand as she slowly reached out to pet the small animal.

"I wonder what it's still doing out here?" Sakura said looking at it.

"Well it's a tame animal used for substitution," Kakashi said remembering the animal from before.

"H-he looks under feed," Hinata said as she noticed it looked thinner and the hair wasn't as nice as last time.

"It's not used to the wild," Kurenai spoke up as she was surprised the animal was still alive. Normally a tame animal thrust into the wild was hunted down much more easily than one born in it.

Hinata found some food and started to feed the small animal, Kurenai sighed as she noticed how Hinata was over the animal. She knew what was coming next and she wasn't sure what to say to it.

"K-Kurenai-sensei..." Hinata started off looking up with pleading eyes to the older woman.

Kurenai wasn't sure she had the heart to say no to the girl, she thought of Hinata almost as family in a way. The girl was so pure and kind that it was hard not to like the small girl, and the fact that Hinata looked up to her only made it worse.

"You'll have to ask your father you know," Kurenai said to her student.

"I will," Hinata smiled at her.

"So you're going to try and keep him?" Sakura said excitedly looking at the cute little thing.

"Why not?" Naruto smiled under his mask, "After all Shino has his bugs and Kiba has Akamaru. So why can't Hinata-chan have an animal herself?"

Hinata blushed a bit as she picked up the rabbit, he seemed lighter than before and she was worried that any longer out in the foods and the animal might have died. Now she only had to worry about what to tell her father.

It was a shorter trip this time on their way back to Konoha the kids were talking excitedly about all the things that had gone on in the mission. Kakashi was actually very proud of the way that they had handled during the mission and from the way Kurenai looked she was pleased as well. When they were a day out of Konoha the weather took a huge turn as a small heat wave seemed to have shown up. It was usually hot in the Fire country as they never even got snow this far south and days like this did happen now and then.

By the time they reached the massive gates of their village they all were sweating.

"Man I'm so glad to be home," Kiba said as he was carrying his large coat by this time and Akamaru was sitting on his head panting. He looked to his two teammates. "How is it you two can keep your coats on in this heat anyway?"

Shino just shrugged, "My family is very good at using our bugs to regulate body temperature." Which was true as the bugs could be used for many different reasons, although another reason was because people tended to be freaked out by all the small flaps in the skin where the insects came out.

Kiba looked to Hinata for her explanation as she blushed holding her pet to her chest a bit closer. She was hot but she also was very shy about her body and just didn't want to take it off.

"Hey dad maybe we should hit the lake or river for some down time?" Naruto spoke up as his black vest as now in his backpack leaving him only in his orange t-shit.

Kakashi nodded, "Sounds like a good idea so far to me."

"Cool!"

"But after we've all rested up and made our reports," Kakashi continued leaving Naruto to hang his head in disappointment. He chuckled at how easy it was to toy with his son at times, then he noticed the tired looks of the others. They all had walked a long distance over the strange heat that suddenly showed up and so maybe he could give them the rest of the day off.

"Well how about you all go, I'm sure myself and Kurenai can make the report that is if she doesn't have anything against the idea?"

"No I'm fine with that," Kurenai said to him.

As everyone made their ways home Hinata nervously went to the Hyuga compound. The rabbit was currently sleeping in her arms and she was worried that her father might not let her keep him. Hinata made it to the front gates when one of the guards told her that she was to report to her father's study as soon as she got home to report on her mission. Hinata had hoped for a chance to hide her rabbit but looked like she might not be able to.

She hoped that she could run into her sister or Neji but as luck would have it she didn't see them, and her room was further away than her father's office and most likely someone would have told him that she was back. She knocked on his door and she heard him to come in, she nervously opened the door and walked in as her father was working on some documents.

"So how did your mission go?" Hiashi asked not looking up at the moment.

"I-it went very well father. I learned a new skill and helped to defend a town from invading mercenaries."

"That's good so far and I would like a copy of the mission report from your sensei whenever she can," Hiashi said as he then looked up. He kept his face neutral with the exception of one of his eyebrows going up slightly. "Hinata, what are you doing with that animal?"

Hinata bit her lower lip, "I-I found him, he was used for a replacement technique. I-I thought that I could take care of him, I'll take full responsibility father and I'll keep him out of the way."

Hiashi didn't really care for pets, mainly because his father had thought that he and his brother shouldn't have them as they were a distraction. But looking at his daughter and how far she was coming around maybe she did deserve a chance. After all he knew that his brother would say that they shouldn't treat their own children like their own father had and they should forge their own paths in parenthood.

But he also didn't want to appear 'weak' as well, since as Clan head he always had people looking at his actions no matter how small at times.

"One month," he said finally after thinking on it. "You have one month to prove you can take care of this animal and if you can't then you must get rid of it. You are also to pay for all the needs of your pet yourself as well."

He figured that this would also be a good way to see how Hinata could handle real responsibility in the end and he wanted to see if she could handle it.

Hinata was both surprised and overjoyed as well. "H-hai, I will father."

"Good, you can go now daughter," he said softly watching her go. When she was gone he let a small smile tug on his lips, it was nice seeing her happy. He knew he was hard on her and Hanabi from time to time but he had to prepare them for Clan life. But his brother had urged him from time to time to lighten up now and again as well.

With that he decided to get back to work and let his daughter deal with her new pet.

Hinata walked into her room happy that her father was going to let her keep her rabbit. She let him down as he went to explore Hinata's room. The young girl started to make a list of all the things she would need, a litter box, a place to keep him, food bowl and water as well, plus anything else she could find when she went to the pet shop in the village later.

She was taken out of her thoughts as a knock on her door and Hanabi opened it up.

"I heard you were back," Hanabi said glad to see that her older sister was well.

"Yes, just got back actually. How have things been while I was gone?"

"It was okay," Hanabi shrugged. "Konohamaru and I played together while you were gone so I wasn't bored."

Hanabi then noticed the bunny and her eyes lit up at it, "Ah so cute! Is he yours?"

Hinata nodded, "Yes father said I could keep him if I took full responsibility."

Hanabi sat down as the rabbit went to her and started to sniff the younger girl. Hanabi giggled as she lightly petted the furry animal. "What's his name?"

Hinata had been thinking about that and she had the perfect name for the white rabbit. "Haku-kun."

**-Later-**

Kakashi and Kurenai were walking out of the Hokage's office, they had just made their report to the Hokage. They had to give the real version of events but thankfully with the information Kakashi got from what was going on in Mist village he agreed to keep their source a secret. Plus there was no telling how help they could get out of someone of Zabuza's position, the man just knew too much about Kirigakure to go to waste so it would be made official that Zabuza was killed and the ninja's headband to Mist as proof.

With that out of the way both of them were looking forward to some down time.

What they didn't expect was the run into Anko on her way to make her own mission report. The purple haired Kunoichi gave a broad smile at seeing her best friend and Kakashi as well. "Hey guys, so you're al back huh. How did things go?"

Kakashi sighed, "Kind of a long story, but in the end everything worked out at least. So how did things go with you?"

"Oh the usual," Anko told them. "Just had to get close to someone that was dealing in a drug ring that the fire daimyo wanted shut down, in a lethal way of course."

"With your usual flair?" Kurenai asked smirking knowing that Anko wasn't exactly the most subtle of people.

Anko sighed at her question, "I was told to keep it 'low key' so I couldn't have any fun with it. So I went in as a geisha girl, got close and poisoned him with some snake venom. Simple enough mission, but right now all I want is to get this over with and cool off."

"Can't be comfortable in that coat of yours either," Kakashi told her.

"You have no idea," Anko muttered she loved her coat but when the weather got like this it could be really hot for her. But still, it held all her weapons, items and her hide her snakes it was just too good an item to just throw away from the heat. Plus wearing a shirt and ninja mesh did help balance it out.

"Maybe you should join us then," Kurenai told Anko of the idea of tomorrow heading out with both teams to cool off and relax. Kurenai was thinking of using her training grounds as it had a good water source for them all to use.

Anko had to admit that it sounded great plus there was another thing she could use. It would give her a chance to check out Kakashi in a swimsuit and also she could use it to show herself off as well, she had this little number she had been saving for a special occasion. With this she could try and see if she could get Kakashi interested, she had been trying to think of a way to see if he could be and this was the perfect chance.

She also got another idea as well as she looked at her best friend. She knew that there was something with Kurenai and Asuma so why not just help her friend out as well?

"You know that's a good idea, in fact why not we get the other brats in on this. I think Asuma's team is not doing anything." Anko said.

"I guess we could have them," Kakashi said before Kurenai could say anything. "After all Naruto is friends with them as well so it's only fair."

"Good then I'll see you all tomorrow, but now I got to report in," Anko smiled at them as she walked into the office. She couldn't wait until tomorrow and see how things went.

**Next up chapter 42: Waterside Fun.**

**Yeah I know not much but this was a set up chapter for various things for the future. Next chapter fun and fluff.**


	42. Waterside Fun

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 42: Waterside Fun**

"Yahoo!" Naruto shouted out as he dashed off for the water.

Kakashi could only chuckle as his son's antics as he watched him race to the water. Kakashi watched as the other two genin in his group also started running. Well Naruto had challenged Sasuke to a race and once again that boy refused to loose to Naruto and Sakura just went along with it not wanting to be left out.

Kakashi reflected on how the morning went, after a very unwelcomed wakeup call from his son, because the boy didn't want to be late, they were soon on their way to get the others. Both men were wearing their trade mark masks although while Naruto was in a bright pair of orange swim trunks, Kakashi opted for a black pair. He watched as the kids kicked off their sandals and threw aside towels and other items to gain more speed. Sakura was wearing a decent two piece that was red and covered most of her chest, although the plush from Naruto and a slightly cast look from Sasuke at first said that it was nice on her.

Kakashi wasn't really looking as it wouldn't be proper, while Sasuke threw off a blue t-shirt as he dived into the water with white and blue trimmed trunks. By the looks of it the boys might have tied in the race with Sakura just a fraction of a second behind. Of course both boys wanted to admit that they were first which led to the usual arguing and Sakura trying to make peace with the two. Kakashi sighed, some things just never changed.

"Damn they beat us."

Kakashi turned his head to see Team 8 was on their way. Kiba who had spoken out was already in grey trunks putting down his stuff with Akamaru jumping off the boy's head. He noticed Kurenai was in a white one piece with a sash around her waist. Although not as skimpy as he knew Azuma would like, the woman's figure made up for it. Kakashi mentally chuckled when Azuma got a look at her, he knew the man might have a thing for the red eye genjutsu mistress.

His gaze went to Hinata, who although he could tell she was wearing something, the girl was still wearing her coat. She looked a little embarrassed and noticed another Hyuga with them, he recognized as Hanabi. Apparently Hinata hadn't wanted to leave her little sister out of the fun. Then he noticed Shino, he was wearing shorts but still had on his coat.

Kakashi gave Kurenai a questioning look and she just sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

Kurenai had tried to convince him to join in but apparently Shino and his family never really liked water all that much. Apparently it had something to do with their insects getting wet, although he had learned water walking Shino actually couldn't swim.

"So how are things?" Kakashi asked.

"Well enough," Kurenai said to him. "Anko said she was coming but is running late. I also Gai might be showing up as well."

Kakashi cringed as he really hoped Gai would tone it down. The one time the Jonin all got time off at a place with swimming he showed up in a black swimming thong. The sight alone gave him and many others horrible nightmares and he was banned from ever showing up in that in public again.

"T-That would be my fault," Hinata said looking down. "I told Neji-niisan and he told Tenten, who told Lee who told Gai-sensei."

"Well it's not a problem besides it's not often all the teams get time off anyway." Kakashi smiled at her.

"So I see we're not late." Came another familiar voice. Everyone looked to see Asuma in black shorts and a vest walking with his own team plus one other addition.

"Hey Hanabi!" Konohamaru yelled out seeing his friend. Hanabi waved back to the boy glad to see someone more her own age here.

Asuma chuckled, "Hope you don't mind that I brought my nephew, once he heard what was going on he demanded to come."

"I'm sure Naruto will be happy to see him," Kakashi smiled as the other children ran off to join the others.

"I hope he's not the only one Kakashi." Anko's voice came up behind him.

Kakashi turned around and his one visible eye widened at the sight before him. There was Anko in a black two piece holding a towel and a small bag in one hand. Although it was hard not to see anything but the bikini the woman was wearing and what it showed off. Anko was giving him that seductive smile of hers as she walked towards the others.

Asuma actually dropped his cigarette at the sight and Kurenai gave him a small glare before turning away. Kakashi tried to say of something but his mouth was suddenly a bit dry at the sight of the special jonin. Sure she wore that mesh armour that looked like it was painted on, but she was showing a lot more skin now and the effect surprised him how much he reacted.

"Ah my eternal rival, you have arrived before us!" Gai's loud voice boomed out and for once Kakashi was thankful for the interruption.

Kakashi was also glad that Gai was wearing swimming trunks as the children really didn't need to be traumatized like he and the others had been. Although he did notice that Gai and Lee had the exact same pair of green coloured swim wear. He was starting to think that Gai showed Lee where he shopped the boy bought anything his sensei did.

"I guess that means I beat you again huh?" Kakashi smiled at Gai.

Gai suddenly realized that Kakashi had 'beat' him at yet something else and the shocked expression on his face made Kakashi's morning. He started to tune out the other man as he went on his usual rant about not losing to him again and evening the score. He just hoped that he didn't get roped into another challenge as he wanted to enjoy the day.

**-Lake side-**

The genins were already starting to mix and great each other, Ino was showing off her new purple swim suit to Sakura while looking for Sasuke. Naruto went over to the others as they started to meet up and was glad to see Team Gai had made it.

"Naruto-kun, I'm very glad to see you in fine shape and I hope you don't mind me and my team mates joining you in this most youthful of days!" Lee said to him.

Naruto shrugged, "Hey I'm glad you guys could show up it will be more fun this way."

Then he noticed Neji in a plain white trunks but Tenten had opted for a pink bathing suit and actually had her hair down. He was surprised how it went to her shoulders as he had never seen her hair like that. He got a grin as this was the perfect way to push Neji's buttons again.

"Hey Tenten, that's a really great swimsuit you got on and I like your hair down like that. You should do it more often it looks pretty that way." Naruto smiled at her.

Tenten couldn't help a small blush, it was always nice how Naruto complimented her as she never got any at all. Many just saw her as a tomboy and there was nothing bad with that but she was a girl too damn it and sometimes she wanted to feel pretty, although she would never admit that out loud even under torture.

"Thanks Naruto, it's nice to see someone appreciates it but I prefer my hair in puns while working. It keeps it out of the way and less chance of someone grabbing my hair." Tenten told him.

Neji once again clenched his jaws in irritation, he really wish he wouldn't get upset whenever Naruto paid attention like that to Tenten. She was his friend and team mate but something about the way Naruto openly flirted and Tenten accepting it just rubbed him the wrong way.

"Hey who are you guys?" Choji asked as he and his team walked up to the others.

"Oh right you guys haven't met yet, well Neji I think you met at my last birthday party, but this is my Uncle Gai's team. This is Tenten and Lee," Naruto said introducing them and vise-versa.

"Oh man it's so nice to meet another girl," Ino said going over to Tenten, "I swear it's like the ninja population is something like five men to every woman."

Tenten giggled at that, "Yeah I know which makes it harder on us because we have to prove ourselves more huh?"

"Totally," Ino smirked taking a liking to the slightly older girl.

"Well I think I'm going to go join Shino," Shikamaru sighed as he went to lay on the grass and enjoy some cloud watching.

"Well let's go then," Konohamaru yelled out after introductions were taken care of as he and Hanabi ran to the water.

"Hinata you're not going to swim with that coat are you?" Ino asked seeing the short haired girl blush a bit. "Come on you'll have to take it off to swim."

"O-okay," Hinata said softly as she took her coat off. She was very shy about her body and she never did feel she was as pretty as the other girls. In fact she had worn this coat for a few years even before puberty kicked in. As she took it off revealing a blue one piece suit she noticed Ino looking at her strangely.

"W-what?" Hinata asked the blonde.

"When the hell did you get curves?" Ino blurted out. She had never seen the other girl like this and just figured that Hinata wore baggy clothing because the other girl hadn't really grown into a more feminine look. But apparently Hinata had been keeping secret that she had done some growing up. Ino had to admit that she was comparing her figure with Hinata's.

"I don't see why you're hiding all of that, man if you showed off more I bet the boys at the academy would have been asking you out," Ino smirked seeing her blush at that.

"R-really?" Hinata never thought she could turn heads, she always thought she was pretty plain.

"Yeah, you just need more confidence." Ino smiled at her and then took the why girl by her shoulders leading her to the small lake. "Here let me help. Hey guys!"

"Epp!" Hinata suddenly found all eyes on her as she felt very embarrassed being the center of attention.

"What the...is that Hinata?" Kiba then whistled as he was next to Sasuke, Lee and Naruto as they were getting ready for a race on the water. "Damn she sure developed."

"What the hell does that mean!" Naruto shouted at him.

"Oh come on look at her, you'd never know that she had a figure like the other girls with all that clothing on." Kiba smirked and then got a punch to the gut from Naruto.

"Don't talk about her like that you idiot!" Naruto didn't like the way Kiba had said that and the whistle just pissed him off for some reason. Kiba however took offense to being punched and tackled Naruto into the water as the boys wrestled about.

"Should we not do something?" Lee asked Sasuke.

"Naw, let them go at it. They'll get tired and forget all about it in about ten minutes." He said as he noticed Ino was making her way over to him. He sighed as the blonde harpy was making her way, she was just way too clingy and apparently didn't get that he wasn't interested. At least Sakura had gotten the message and stopped annoying him and was concentrating on her ninja skills. Didn't these girls know that the only girls he could be considered interesting were ones he could respect?

He cast a look at that Tenten girl and had to admit she was what a Kunoichi was supposed to be. He noticed that the Hyuga boy seemed close to her but nothing that indicated they were dating. Maybe he could use this to get to know the girl more, that is if he could slip away from Ino long enough.

**-On the grass-**

With the adults looking over the kids they felt time to actually relax. They weren't kids anymore and they didn't have the energy like the genins seemed to have. Well most of them, Gai was off doing handstand push ups on the water and Lee was joining him as they were 'training their flames of youth' as they called it.

"I get tired just looking at them," Asuma sighed to himself.

"I just don't know how they have the energy for it," Kurenai put her two cents in.

Kakashi sighed, "You know if he makes it to old age I often wonder if he'll be the most fit old man in the world or the most broken up with the things he puts his body through."

Anko snickered as she could see and old Gai now in a wheelchair trying to race all the other old geezers. At any rate it was the perfect time to try out a little plan of her to get Kakashi a bit more interested in her. The bathing suit was just part one and from his reaction she knew that she got him interested.

She rolled onto her back and dug out some sun screen in the small bag she carried, "Hey Kakashi can you do me a favour?"

"Sure, what?"

"Put this on my back for me will you?" She handed him the bottle and laid down on her towel. Kakashi blinked a few times as he looked at the bottle and then at her. He had to admit it seemed like something out of Icha Icha Paradise but he shrugged it off and started to work it onto her skin. He had to admit her skin was softer than he had thought it would be. Her body felt nicely toned as well, there were the little scars here and there but then they all had them.

The life of a ninja was a dangerous one and it would very odd to not get them in the line of duty. He could see a few from cuts, one looked like a small stab wound that had healed over nearly completely. Ninja Medics were very good at repairing the skin damage but they couldn't always heal away all sighs of an injury.

But he didn't mind at all, in fact he found his fingers lightly tracing them at times.

Anko sighed at what he was doing, who knew that Kakashi had magic fingers. She wasn't sure what he was doing at times but it felt nice. She had never had been in a position like this before, mainly cause she had never trusted a man that much. Her sex life wasn't really all that to talk about, she heard the rumours though. She was a wild one in the sack, she had whips and chains in her bed room and all kinds of very kinky things.

But the truth was she only had sex a few times, mainly it was just a stress relief and only one night stands. Sometimes after a mission when the blood was pumping as well but then lots of ninja usually got laid at moments like that. There was just something about the adrenaline and sex that made people go for it. But in all those few times she never really felt a connection.

With Kakashi things were different she actually felt like she could trust him and in some strange way she could relate to him more than most. Having your childhood taken from you at an early age and losing all your family, the pain of loss, it wasn't easy for her to connect with others. But over the years she got to know him and she felt at ease with him.

But now she wanted to at least try something more.

"Hey hold on a second will you," Anko told him as she reached back and undid the knots in the back of her suit.

Kakashi nearly squeezed the bottle dry but stopped himself.

"I don't want any tan lines," Anko smiled at him.

Kurenai looked a little envious of Anko; although she wasn't sure she could let Asuma try that out. Although the thought of his hands on her skin was appealing, she bet his hands were all rough too. Another sigh from Anko and Kurenai felt like scowling at the younger woman, it just wasn't fair that Anko was enjoying herself too much. She knew that lately Anko had her sights set on Kakashi and this was her way of testing the waters.

Anko never really had a stable relationship, mostly because of the girl's fear of getting close to someone but Kakashi was a friend going way back so most likely the woman was just comfortable enough with him to try it out. Kurenai really did hope things would work out, Anko needed someone stable in her life and so did Kakashi.

"Damn," Asuma muttered as he tried to rub some sun tan lotion on his own back and shoulders. He couldn't ask Kakashi as he had his hands full at the moment, Gai was too far off and he wasn't sure he should ask Kurenai. He didn't want to seem like he was over stepping himself with her as he respected her.

"What is it?" Kurenai asked.

"Nothing major I just can't reach the back part." He told her and then felt a pair of soft hands on his shoulders making him jump a bit as he looked over his shoulder.

"Here let me help," she said softly as she worked the lotion he put on over his back. She could feel the hard muscles of his shoulders. She actually loved his shoulders they were so big and broad, it was one of her secret turn ons for men. She could see the little scars here and there, as she worked her hands over his back. She had to admit she enjoyed it more than she should of.

Asuma closed his eyes feeling her soft gentle hands on his back, they felt nice and when she stopped he was a bit disappointed.

"Thanks," he said turning towards her. "Well I can return the favour if you need it after all you helped me out so I should return it."

Kurenai turned around to help her out and to hide a small blush. She felt him move her hair aside as he was sitting behind her and started with her shoulders. She had been right, his hands were rough and strong but his touch was still gentle. She nearly bit back a moan as he worked her shoulders.

"Have you been stressed lately?" Asuma asked feeling her shoulders. "You shoulders feel like their in knots."

"Stressful mission," Kurenai muttered it just felt too good.

As they continued on Anko cast a glance their way and smirked. Her little bonus mission of getting her best friend the man she had a crush on was working. But she soon returned to the very nice feeling of Kakashi's hands on her back.

**-The Lake-**

The kids were already having lots of fun in the water, Choji had started things off by making a cannonball into the water getting everyone wet which started a full on water fight, ninja style that is. Naruto used a bit of his wind chakra training to make some nice wave, others either swam under the water or ran on top of it. Shino was watching contently by the shade of a tree while Shikamaru had fallen asleep.

Naruto at that moment was standing on the water as he took a break. A few where playing a game of water tag and so far it looked like Tenten was 'it' and was trying to tag either Ino or Hinata who were the closest to her.

Naruto had to admit that Hinata was very graceful on the water, he watched her as she moved out of the way of the girls as they played. She moved like a dancer really and something was bothering him. He felt like he had seen this before but he couldn't really place where he had seen it. He hadn't seen Hinata in a bathing suit for a few years, not that he could see why she was so shy about her appearance.

He never really noticed that she was actually kind of pretty, his eyes went over her slender figure and once again he felt that he knew that shape.

'_This is nuts, why the hell am I checking out my best friend?'_ Naruto thought to himself. _'I mean okay sure she's grown a lot more than I thought. And I never knew she could move on the water like a dancer and...wait...'_

Naruto blinked a few times as he really looked at her movements, she was using some type of that gentle fist style to move about and it really looked like dancing. Now he remembered, he had seen this before. That night in Wave when he saw that beautiful girl dancing naked in the moonlight, it was an image that had been haunting him. He still had dreams of that girl and he really took a very close look at Hinata.

'_It can't be...I mean...'_

Naruto couldn't help but notice how the movements were too much like the girl he had seen, plus only a ninja could walk on water and they had been the only ninja in the area. He hadn't thought it was one of the girls because he honestly didn't think they were a match. Sakura was nice but her bust line wasn't as big as the girl he had seen and her hair was too long. Hinata, he had never seen thought a coat and figured she was about the same as Sakura.

But looking at Hinata now, he could see that she really did have one hell of a figure. That coat and pants really hide how she had bloomed over the past couple of years. Naruto couldn't deny it anymore, that girl he had seen had been Hinata. There wasn't a doubt anymore in his mind which meant that the girl he had been dreaming about was Hinata.

It also led to another thought.

'_I saw Hinata-chan NAKED!'_

The sudden gush of blood out of his nose and the shock made him lose concentration and he fell into the water. Naruto sank down into the water as his mind tried to make sense of everything. The dream girl was in fact real but it was his childhood friend, but he had to admit that she had grown up and was in fact a pretty girl. He never thought of her as a girl, more as his friend so this left him feeling very confused.

The fact he had seen her naked made him blush all over and was thankful no one could see him down in the water. His mind quickly thought of all the times together, the laughter and the sad times like when her mother had died. She had been a constant in his life and then his mind brought him to that kiss. That accidental kiss on the roof while on that mission in Wave. His mask had been on but thinking about that kiss left a feeling of butterflies in his stomach.

Thousands of thoughts raged on in his mind and it wasn't until his lungs burned for air that he swam up to the surface.

"Damn man how long were you trying to hold your breath down there?" Kiba asked him as he had seen his friend go under. "You trying to learn to breath like a fish or something?"

"I...thought I saw something at the bottom but it was nothing," Naruto told him. He saw Kiba shrug it off and went back to the shore. Naruto looked again at Hinata and he felt a blush under his mask as he watched her laughing and playing with the others.

'_She...really is pretty and she's really nice too...damn it she's my friend...but...oh man I don't know what to think!'_ Naruto felt so lost but if there was anyone he could turn for help it was his dad.

Kakashi was by a tree trying to read one of his books but his mind just kept going back to Anko and the way her body felt under his hands. He knew that she was obviously flirting with him, but the reason was why she was doing it. Was she doing it just as friendly teasing? But then again she hadn't really done anything like that before so was she actually interested in him?

He had known her for years, hell she was practically part of the family in a weird way. Kakashi also had to admit he had never met a woman like her. She was a tomboy, rash and had a very strange sense of humour. But he had fun with her, she was easy to get along with and he remembered that day at her place when they had shared that one moment. Both their walls that they kept up came down for just an instance and he had to admit it felt, nice.

Plus there was the fact she was beautiful as well. He wasn't blind to that, especially in that little red number she was wearing. Her skin was so soft and warm that he didn't want to stop when she asked him to put on the sun tan lotion. But would it be right to start something with her?

What if things went wrong, could they end up hating each other and then what of Naruto? The kid loved her that much was certain and he knew that Anko felt the same about Naruto, to them they were like true family and he didn't want to break it up.

While he was thinking on what to do it took him a moment to notice his son walking towards him. Kakashi focused his attention on him as Naruto didn't look like his normal self. In fact the boy looked like something was bothering him.

"Hey dad, can I ask you something?"

The tone that Naruto used told him this was serious, so Kakashi put his book down as he sat down. He patted the spot next to him and Naruto silently sat down next to his adopted father.

"So what's on your mind?" Kakashi asked him.

"Well...I'm not sure what to do about something," Naruto wasn't sure how to even start about his problem so he'd just wing it. "You see I think I'm starting to like a girl but the problem was that she's a friend."

"You mean like how you had a crush on Sakura for a bit?"

"It's different this time," Naruto said in his defence. "I mean with Sakura maybe it was just a crush but we've become good friends since she's into Sasuke. But the thing is it's harder this time, this time she's been a very good friend for a long time and I'm scared I might screw that up. I mean she's been there for so long, and what if I ask her out and she gets weirded out by it?"

'_Can it be that he's finally noticed Hinata?'_ Kakashi thought to himself surprised. It wasn't hard for him to figure out who he was talking about since Hinata was his oldest friend plus he caught Naruto looking in the direction of Hinata just now for a split second. He mentally chuckled to himself at this turn of events, everyone knew that Hinata had it bad for Naruto, with the exception of Naruto. The only reason he had stayed out of it was that he didn't want to meddle but maybe a little push wouldn't hurt.

"Well son, how do you know she doesn't like you back?" Kakashi asked him. "Do you see any signs?"

"Signs? Usually the girls in your books just throw themselves at the guys or say what they are thinking." Naruto said at him.

Kakashi sweat dropped, he really should have given him more talks about girls. Jiraiya may write great novels but women rarely just up and admitted things at least it wasn't normally done. The thing with Anko earlier was a prime example.

"Well things don't work out like that in real life, at least not all the time," he started to explain to Naruto. "You see some girls are actually very shy about certain things, tell me does she blush a lot or even faints around you?"

'_If that doesn't clue him in then I don't know what will,_' Kakashi mentally sighed.

Naruto thought about it, Hinata did blush a lot when he was around. Plus she did seem to faint and Kiba once said to him that she only seemed to do it around him. She had fainted when he had accidentally kissed her so...

'_Does that mean that Hinata, likes me?'_

Naruto never thought that his best friend would feel like that, he wasn't sure but if his dad was right then that meant that Hinata actually liked him.

Kakashi saw Naruto was thinking about it so he had a few more words for him. "Listen I can't tell you want you want to do in this, it's your life. But just think about this for a moment. Do you have fun with this girl, when your with her do you feel more at ease and comfortable with her?"

Kakashi look slowly traveled to Anko who was talking with Kurenai about something.

"Does it seem that she's someone that you might actually like to date? Someone that you feel can understand you and even accept anything about you?"

Naruto thought about that, Hinata did all of that and more. He thought about what it would be like to date her and it just felt nice inside.

"Thanks dad, I think I know what to do now." Naruto smiled as he got up to join the others.

"I think I do too," Kakashi said looking at Anko laugh with Kurenai.

**-Later that day-**

It was hours later when it was time to get back, everyone had a good time as everyone made their own ways home. Although Naruto asked to walk the Hyuga girls home while Kakashi was okay with it as he moved off to Anko.

Anko gave a curious look as Kakashi walked up beside her.

"Mind some company?" He asked her.

"Nope." She smiled at him as they walked on. "So the squirt is taking Hinata and other girl home huh."

Kakashi nodded, "I think he's going to try and ask her out."

"About damn time," Anko sighed as she saw how the young girl was smitten with Naruto.

"It also got me thinking as well," Kakashi said as if he was thinking out loud. "I haven't been on a date in years."

"Oh?" Anko smirked, "Got anyone in mind."

"Yeah...you think Kurenai would be up for it?"

Anko face faulted at that and turned her full fury on Kakashi, if that bastard got to look at her and touch her and went after Kurenai she was going to kick his ass. "What did you say!"

Kakashi only chuckled, "Just kidding. I know she would say no and Asuma wouldn't talk to me again if I did."

Anko crossed her arms and turned away from him.

"You know...you're kind of cute angry," Kakashi said walking up ahead leaving a stunned Anko behind him. It only took a moment for her to get over it and caught up to him.

"What did you say?"

"I said I thought you were cute angry." Kakashi smiled at her.

Anko felt a small blush but fought it back she wouldn't act like some teenager even though the sound of him saying she was cute made her feel giddy in her stomach. "So?"

"So what?" Kakashi asked.

Anko was losing her patience. "You going to ask me out or what!"

"Alright, tomorrow sound good for you?" He asked.

"Yeah and you better not wear ninja clothing, for all the teasing you're taking me out in style Hatake." Anko said to him holding her head up high. She wasn't letting him get off easy for teasing her like that. Kakashi only chuckled maybe this was going to be more fun than he thought.

While that was going on, several blocks away Naruto was walking the Hyuga girls. Hanabi was very lively as she wanted to do something like that again sometime soon. Hinata smiled at seeing how happy her little sister was. She cast a look to Naruto who seemed to be thinking about something but whatever it was she wasn't sure. She wanted to ask him but she didn't want to disturb whatever it was he was thinking of. At any rate they soon arrived at the main Hyuga gate.

"Hey Hinata-chan, can I talk to you for a second?" Naruto said slightly nervous.

"Uh...okay, Hanabi why don't you check on Haku-kun for me." Hinata asked and her sister gave a curious look at them but nodded.

"Haku-kun?" Naruto asked confused.

"T-the rabbit," Hinata told him.

"Oh okay. Heh, I should tell Haku that in the letter I plan on writing to him I bet he'll like that." Naruto smiled at her and then he scratched the back of his head nervously. "Um...Hinata-chan, I was wondering if you were doing anything tomorrow afternoon?"

"N-no, why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go out tomorrow, you know, with me?" Naruto couldn't even look at her for a moment too scared of what he might see.

Hinata's eyes widened as her face started to feel warm. _'Is...is he asking me out on a date!?'_

"Y-you mean like, l-like a...date?" Hinata asked feeling so nervous that she might faint right there. Her heart was hammering in her chest. This was like a dream come true, first he took her first kiss and now this. She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she was awake.

"Well...yeah," Naruto admitted and waited for a replay. But Hinata was so shocked she couldn't get any words out and Naruto's hopes dropped. He figured that her silence meant that she didn't want to, he was surprised at how much it hurt. For a moment he was actually looking forward to a date with her for some reason.

After a couple of minute of silence was all Naruto could take. "Well you don't have to, I'm sorry I brought it up and I don't want to ruin our friendship if that's what you feel."

'_Oh no! He feels like I'm rejecting him! Say something, anything, please!'_ Hinata screamed out in her mind.

"Well I should get back to-"

"YES!" Hinata shouted out.

"Huh?"

Both Naruto and Hinata were surprised by that kind of outburst. Hinata turned even more red than ever but she couldn't stop now. "I-I'd love to."

"R-Really!?" Naruto said happily.

Hinata nodded her head as she smiled.

"Great! I'll pick you up tomorrow at four okay?" Naruto told her. Hinata just nodded again and Naruto smiled at her before running off. Hinata felt like she was floating as she realized she finally had a date with the boy she had been harbouring feelings for, for so long.

She walked back into the compound with a dreamy look on her face making many clan members what had happened to get Hinata in such a state. She walked into her room and saw Hanabi there feeding Haku but she didn't notice. She just fell back first onto her bed and sighed happily.

Hanabi gave a confused look, "What's going on?"

"Naruto-kun asked me out." Hinata sighed happily again.

Hanabi's face was full of surprise and a little disappointment, she and Konohamaru had plans already in place and he said he got help from two other kids his own age as well. "So what are you doing for it?"

Hinata wasn't sure but then it dawned on her, she bolted up as she realized that she had a first date and wasn't sure what to even wear to it or what to even do on a date.

**Next up Chapter 43: First Dates**

**Okay it finally happened and the first dates with Hinata/Naruto and Anko/Kakashi are next. Hope it was worth the wait folks. And this was my longest chapter for the entire story over six thousand words I just had so much to do in this and I didn't want to break it up.**


	43. First Dates

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 43: First Dates**

Naruto was very nervous, he hadn't been this nervous since his first day at school. Today was his first real date and with Hinata no less. He had to admit that before he never would have thought he would try to date his oldest and best friend but lately his views on her had changed. He saw that she was a pretty girl that he knew very well and who he liked being around. But right now he was worried since he had never actually gone on a date before.

From his dad's books he knew how to flirt and a few other things to do with girls, but dating was never actually in those books. If he ever found that guy that wrote those books he was going to have to tell him to add in things like that. Thinking about the parts of the books that the male and female characters did together made Naruto think of Hinata and himself in those places. He blushed as the thought of the feel of her skin or how her lips tasted ran through his mind. It didn't help that he now knew she had been the girl he had seen naked on the water that one night.

He wouldn't say he knew that, at least not any time soon as he wanted to make this work. At any rate he just hoped that the ideas he got from his dad yesterday worked. After Hinata had said yes to the date, he had gone home and waited for his dad to show up and ask him the kinds of things that he could do on a date. Kakashi had asked him who the lucky girl was and Naruto had to admit he asked Hinata out, he was wondering why Kakashi didn't show any surprise at that.

Anyways, Kakashi soon told his son a few examples of what to do on a date and with that he made his own plans. It would be later that night and all Naruto knew was that Kakashi was going out, it wasn't like he wanted to hide things from his son, it was just that Naruto seemed to have enough on his mind anyway.

Across the village Hinata was more nervous then she could ever remember being, she had spent all morning trying to figure out what to wear for her first ever date and what she should do during it. She sighed at the fact she didn't have much in the way of clothing for dates. She should have to go to her friends for help soon as well after this date for more advice. Plus Ino and Sakura were good with fashion so they could help her pick out new clothing but right now she was worried with what she just had.

She didn't want to look too fancy if they were going to a normal place like the ramen bar but she didn't want to wear her usual clothing in case they went somewhere special. She also had to take in the heat that was still around and after a lot of debating she went with her choice. Mainly it was a skirt she wore in the summer months but it was warm enough for it. Also she wore a short sleeve shirt and one of her jackets, this jacket was less bulky then her normal one as the arms were gone.

At this time she wished her mother was still alive at this point, she really could have used her advice for this, she looked at the picture she had of her mother that she always kept in sight. Hinata picked it up and looked at her mother, she still remembered her as a beautiful woman that was always kind. Her heart ached for her mother's touch just once more but she knew that wasn't possible. As she continued to get ready her date was unknowingly to her, coming to the front gate.

Naruto had already managed to get into the Hyuga compound without trouble as usual. A branch family member was already making his way to inform Hinata that Naruto was here to see her while he waited. He wasn't sure if Hinata was ready so he was glad for the wait, he was in waiting out in the open just outside the main house hold.

Unfortunately it was just his luck that Neji happened to wonder near him, he saw the familiar masked blonde but he took note of the clothing he was wearing. It was different than his normal clothing and had to wonder what was going on. He walked up behind Naruto who was so focused that he didn't hear Neji.

"Naruto, I wasn't aware you would be showing up today," Neji said to him and took a bit of pleasure at how the blonde had jumped from being startled.

"Damn it, don't sneak up on me like that!" Naruto shouted at him.

"My apologies," he said although on the inside he was smiling. A little payback now and then against the blonde boy was very enjoyable. "At any rate are you visiting Hinata-sama this day?"

Naruto looked a bit nervous at this, he had hoped not to run into anyone like Neji, or worse Hinata's father. He could lie but Hinata would show up pretty soon and he would find out eventually and then Neji really might be pissed that he had lied to him.

"Well...the thing is, I got a date with Hinata-chan right now," Naruto said nervously scratching the back of his head.

Neji blinked a few times not sure he had heard right, he knew that Hinata had feelings for him-hell most of the village most likely knew-but he never really thought that Naruto would ask her out. First off was that as a main branch member and heir, Hinata would be expected to be courted by other members of the main house and Naruto being an outsider would complicate things.

But then again Hinata would be happy and Neji did care about his cousin's happiness. That being said he walked right up to Naruto's face as the masked ninja looked up in surprise at the taller boy.

"Naruto, because I know you and because of Hinata's feelings I should warn you," Neji told him in a voice that had a hidden threat to it. "You will treat Hinata-sama well on this but if you ever hurt her then you will have to deal with me."

Naruto gulped and nodded, he knew the kind of damage Neji could do with his gentle fist style and although he always wanted a match with him. The kind of look he was giving Naruto at the moment made him rethink that as he didn't want to have to fight Neji when he was really pissed.

Neji pulled back a bit, "On the other hand I do wish you both well."

Naruto was surprised when the boy walked off but then the older boy stopped. "Also I hope you stop flirting with other girls as well."

"Oh yeah no problem," Naruto told him.

Neji smirked although Naruto couldn't see it, now it meant that Neji didn't have to listen to Naruto flirting with Tenten anymore. It really bothered him when Naruto did that, even if he never admitted to the real reasons behind it. But Hinata had been aching for this so he wouldn't do anything to interfere with it, for now at least.

Naruto sweat dropped as he watched Neji leave, if this was the kind of thing he could expect from Hinata's cousin he dreaded when Hinata's father found out. It was five minutes of waiting before he looked up to see Hinata making her way towards him. He looked at her clothing and was glad she wasn't too dressed up. He wanted this to be a nice simple date as he didn't have enough time to really plan things out.

"H-hello Naruto-kun," Hinata blushed a bit as usual.

"Hey Hinata-chan, you look nice." He smiled at her and noticed the blush increase a bit. Now that he figured out why she blushed he had to admit she looked really cute blushing like this. "Well then want to start things off?"

Hinata nodded as she quickly walked up next to him as they made their way out of the compound. Little did they know that they weren't alone as in the bushes four pairs of eyes locked onto them. Hanabi had gone over to Konohamaru's home and told him the news, and he had suggested that they spy on them and see how things went. Hanabi liked the idea and they had been waiting for Naruto to show up, as soon as Hanabi saw them get enough of a head start they both snuck quietly as they could behind them.

The two young teens walked and talked, well Naruto mostly talked as Hinata listened as usual. It wasn't really any different than they normally hung out but instead of the ramen stand for lunch he took her to a nice outdoor place. It had a nice view of the park as well as she had fond memories of that park.

"That's where we first met," Naruto said looking out to a spot in the park. "I remember you hiding behind your mom when you first saw me."

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said embarrassed because of that although it was a happy memory for her the day she met her first friend.

"Remember that spot we used to play hide and seek by the bushes?" He asked her and she nodded. "We got so dirty that one time both our parents had to take us home to get a bath."

Hinata giggled at that memory, she had never come home in such a sorry state before and she had thought her mother was going to be made but she had this small smile on the entire time.

"T-those were happy times," Hinata said softly.

Naruto nodded after he meet Hinata his life had gotten a lot more happier. "Yeah, I'm not sure if I ever said this, but I'm glad we met Hinata-chan."

Hinata blushed as she smiled, "I'm glad we met as well."

Across the street Hanabi and Konohamaru were spying on them.

"I wish I would hear what they're saying." Konohamaru sulked. "Maybe if we got closer."

"With what they would see us." She told him.

"I got my ninja covering sheet we can bland into the background," He smiled pulling the sheet that had the look of a wood paneling on it but in the wrong direction. Hanabi gave him a look that said all at that.

"What?" He asked.

"You really need to work on your ninja gear," Hanabi said turning back to the date.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he whined.

Naruto and Hinata continued on with their date, after the lunch they walked around the park as they smiled at all the old memories this place held for them. They hadn't been here in a long time together and it was nice. They saw a performer using puppets to tell the story of the First Hokage in the Valley of the End against Mandara Uchiha. Both of them stopped to watch it as it was pretty fun and the kids around where cheering for the First.

Naruto and Hinata walked on, they stopped for ice cream as they sat down in a bench to eat. Hinata giggled as she saw the bit on his nose it looked strange to see the white substance on his black mask. Then Naruto looked cross eyed at it and Hinata couldn't stop the laugh, he looked so cute and funny like that. Naruto grinned and took a bit of his own ice cream and placed a bit on her own nose.

Hinata was surprised but seeing the smiling face she lose it and both ended up laughing again.

Near by Hanabi and Konohamaru were both puzzled by this. Was putting ice cream on each other's face normal on a date? Both kids had no idea but they continued to watch on.

By the end of the date, Naruto was walking Hinata home when he stopped her before they got in sight of the gates. He didn't want the gate guards to see what he hoped to do at this moment. He had been thinking of this for the last hour and it was now or never for him.

"Hey Hinata-chan today was really fun with you." Naruto told her.

"I-I liked it too Naruto-kun," Hinata smiled at him, it had in fact been the best day of her life. She had finally gone on a date with her long time crush.

Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head, "Yeah…so you uh, well that is, you want to go out again?"

Hinata blushed at the thought but nodded her head. One date was more than she had ever thought but now he wanted another date.

"Great and this will be a great one I just need to get it ready," Naruto had to plan out what he wanted to do next but he couldn't wait. The date with Hinata had been so fun and he found out that he really liked to hang out with her more than just a friend. He mentally cursed himself for not seeing Hinata as the cute girl he was looking at before now.

"There's one more thing I've wanted to give to you, I wanted this to be a special date but I wasn't sure how to do it. But I think I came up with something," He told her as she wondered what he had in mind.

Then to her surprise he pulled down his mask and she could see that cute face with the whisker marks on them. She always thought the marks made him look so cute and always wanted to touch the marks. Then she blushed as he started to lean in closer to her as her eyes widened and her pulse rate went up.

'_He's not going to do what I think he's going to do is he?'_ Hinata thought as he moved in although she secretly hoped he was.

Naruto had thought about what to give her and although they had done it before that had been an accident. This time he wanted to make sure of his feelings for her, it was very forward of him but then again tact was never his strong point anyway. He learned in slowly to give her a chance to push him away but she never did.

His face came to hers and lightly he kissed her lips.

It was a bit of a chase kiss, but to the both of them they felt something there. Hinata willed herself with all her might not to faint she wanted this so much. She closed her eyes as she leaned in slightly and pressed her own lips to his. Naruto was surprised at how soft her lips were and soon one of his hands found hers as they stayed like that for a minute before he pulled back.

Both young ninja were blushing furiously.

"So I'll see you later Hinata-chan," Naruto said as he pulled up his mask and walked off. Hinata nodded but couldn't say anything as she walked up in a daze. Naruto had just kissed her, a real kiss on the lips. For Hinata if this was all just a dream she didn't ever want to wake up.

In a tree two young kids had watched the whole thing.

"Ewww did they just kiss?" Hanabi asked cringing at that.

"Yeah," Konohamaru said with an equal disgusted face. "I don't see why older kids and adults do that."

Hanabi nodded, sure it was fun seeing her sister dating Naruto and she did like him but she didn't want to see her older sister kissing boys.

"Well I think the shows over," Konohamaru sighed. "Want to see if Moegi and Udon are doing anything?"

Hanabi shrugged it was better than nothing although she wondered why her sister got that strange look on her face. Was kissing boys really that good? She didn't think so besides it's not like she would ever be caught kissing a boy.

**-Later that evening-**

Kakashi was getting ready for his own date, mainly he had on black pants with a matching shirt, he was wearing a special mask that didn't go as far down his neck as his normal one. The light shirt was buttoned up with the top two undone. Instead of his forehead protector he had on a simple eye patch to cover his sharingan eye. He didn't get to wear that a lot and had spent nearly twenty minutes trying to find the damn thing because he couldn't remember where he had put it.

When Naruto got home from his date he had to smile at the look on his son's face. The boy not only had a great time but seemed to be falling for the young Hyuga girl. All he had done was talk about Hinata and things like how cute she looked at this point and that point.

Naruto was in his room when the door bell sounded, he got up and opened to the door and there was standing Anko. First thing he noticed as her new look, a skirt that went down to her knees but with a slit in it, long black boots that went up high on her legs as well. A studded belt and a dark t-shirt on as well, he also noticed the purple lipstick and matching light eye shadow wore.

She also had on that large smile of hers.

"Nice so this is what you look outside of ninja gear," She said to him although a little disappointed he had on the mask. "You going pirate on us because I think to a ninja that is a cardinal sin."

"I figured the head band was a bit much, besides I think it gives me a cool look," Kakashi replied back smirking.

"Well then let's each because I'm starving!" Anko grabbed his arm and pulled him quickly away so fast he nearly didn't get to close he door.

They made their way through the village to stop off at a decent place for a meal, it was nice to go out like regular people now and then. Anko and Kakashi to relax and talk about things, she noticed that he could eat with that damn mask up but then again she had seen the great mystery that was behind that mask and honestly there were enough women who thought him interesting. There was no need to gain anymore competition from showing the women everywhere the face under that mask.

Dinner proved to be entertaining as Kakashi told her about the Wave mission in detail and Anko had to admit she wished she had been there for it. It sounded kind of exciting and it had been a lot more exciting than the last couple of missions she had. They continued to talk, it was a very comfortable dinner and Anko and Kakashi both played a few games with their conversations. Sometimes a little innuendo was thrown in or teasing the other lightly.

The meal was pretty good too and Anko made a mental note of the place. After that the two of them left to go out walking, it was night by the time they left and they had no real destination in mind, they were both just very comfortable with each other at the moment that they didn't really care.

"Oh I heard of this from some of the others," Anko said as her eyes lit up. She was looking at a bar that they were passing . "It's a great hang out after work and it's open late, plus I hear the drinks aren't so bad and aren't watered down."

Kakashi thought about it and figured they should give it a try. As they entered the place had some low lighting and there seemed to be a main level and another that was slightly higher up off the ground. The higher area had tables and booths and looked to be for small meals and drinking were done. There was a bar at the end of the place against the wall. Kakashi also noticed there were also a few gaming tables. Mainly pool it would seem. On the walls he noticed target boards, a couple looked like it was for darts but two others were slightly larger without the metal frame work.

He noticed kunai and shuriken in holders near it, it was a variation on the game of darks only this was more suited for ninja or those that pretended to be at least.

"Come on let's get a drink and then we can have some fun," Anko smirked at him.

After getting a bottle of sake with a couple of drinking glasses they started off with the pool table. Kakashi and Anko were both very competitive people although Anko was more of a sore looser when she lost the first game. She also had to admit that with his one eye covered Kakashi really compensated well for no depth perception. At one point Anko had a very tough shot and wasn't sure how to get it, she tried to lay on the table to get a better shot off.

"You want some help?" Kakashi asked seeing her trying to get a very tough shot. She had to bank a ball off the side, while avoiding one of his balls at first and then another to get at one of her balls on the table.

"Sure." Anko said as she was focused on the task at hand but when she felt his body press up against her ass and back her concentration faltered a bit. She smirked at how he had played her position on the table to his advantage. She made a mental note to try the same thing back. Kakashi helped her to line up the shot and he couldn't help but take a smell of her hair, whatever perfume she was wearing wasn't too strong but it was an alluring scent.

Anko smirked as she caught him taking a smell, she had barrowed this perfume from Kurenai before the date. Although it did some with a price, Kurenati made her swear to tell the whole story after it was over. After a bit Anko decided on a drinking game, every shot missed you had to take a drink but since they were a bit too good after a game it was moved to a drink for every shot.

That made the games a bit more interesting.

It was later that night when Kakashi and Anko were walking home. Well at least he was, she was walking the edge of a small ledge balancing herself.

"You know being drunk, I wouldn't do that if I were you, you're going to fall," Kakashi said to her although he was feeling the buzz as well.

"I'm not drunk," Anko told him as she continued on with her balancing act. "It's only a three foot tall wall anyway and if I was drunk I would have fallen just by walking."

"Okay then, you're trashed not drunk."

"Uh uh," Anko smirked, "If I was trashed then I wouldn't be able to move or speak. There are subtle levels to drinking and...where was I?" Anko lost her train of thought.

"Something about levels of drinking," Kakashi said although he wasn't too sure himself. He had been too busy staring at her legs and ass as they were pretty mush at eye level.

"Oh right," Anko started up again, "Drunk is that you had a good time, trashed is going on a binge, wasted is that you're passed out cold, buzzed is only after a couple of drinks. So I'm somewhere just after buzzed."

To prove her point she jumped off the small wall with a slight flip and landed, she had a little stumble but she didn't fall down as she caught herself quickly. Kakashi had to admit she had great balance to pull that off after a few drinks. He stared to give a light applause and she gave a theatrical bow to him grinning. Although she didn't want to try that again, her head was starting to swim from the slip and the bow all of a sudden.

This was one of the things that Kakashi had gown to like about Anko over the years, she knew how to have fun and cut loose. Kakashi remembered how he used to have been before Obito's death and had tried to change him into something that was totally different. He took time to appreciate things more and got more laid back, and he had to admit his life was a little less stressful now because of it. If he hadn't changed his ways he most likely would have had an ulcer by now.

They continued on walking and talking and laughing all the way to his place, he hadn't intended to go this way but Anko's home was on the way at any rate. Kakashi looked at his home and noticed all the lights out and figured Naruto was fast asleep by now.

Anko had noticed it as well and she frowned a bit, she was enjoying herself and wanted things to go on. "Hey I thought the man was supposed to escort his date to her place." Anko gave a mock pout.

Kakashi chuckled as the scratched the back of his head, "Sorry about that, well it is getting late and you can crash here if you want."

She had to admit that her feet were starting to hurt after the dancing and walking around, and her place just seemed to far away at the moment. She could crash here and get back to her place in the morning it wasn't like she had anything important in the morning and she could take her time.

"Sure thing." She smiled as he led the way to her place.

They went up to the front door and Kakashi tested it and found it locked, most likely Naruto had locked up before bed like Kakashi had taught him. He pulled out his key and unlocked the door as he looked to Anko.

"You know, tonight was fun." Kakashi told her.

Anko smiled up at the tall man, "Yeah it was…so…you want to do this again?"

She could feel a blush on her cheeks and was glad for the dark, she also hated how she sounded like some shy teen girl asking her secret crush out and she hated how it had sounded. Where was the always confident Anko?

Kakashi smiled down at her, "You know, I'd like that. I…well I really enjoy my time with you."

"Really?" Anko asked happy to hear that and saw him nod his head. She smiled and she wanted to do something that she had been wanting to do for a very long time now. She gently reached up to his mask and pulled it down. She nearly sucked in a breath as she saw that handsome face again. God he really was a perfect looking man to her, even the eye and scar only seemed to enhance it. Kakashi wasn't sure what she was doing but didn't fight it, he was too busy looking into her eyes from the light of the doorway to really care. She really did have nice eyes, they held such mischief and life to them he had noticed.

Anko looked up at the handsome face and she couldn't help it, as she put her arms around his neck, then pulled him down and kissed him. Kakashi was a bit surprised by the move but the taste of her lips soon made him forget his surprise and kiss her back. At first it was gentle but soon Anko pressed a bit harder into it and Kakashi was more than willing to help out. Soon the two of them were lost in the passion of it all, the mutual attraction they held for each other lately had been building all night long, also the primal need for companionship was also there.

Both of them had been without that need, for Anko she had never really opened up before but with Kakashi she felt she could do it. With Kakashi he had been so focused on raising Naruto he hadn't the time to really find a real relationship. But Anko liked his son and Naruto liked her as well which had been a major problem as anyone he chose had to get along with Naruto or else there was no point to it all.

But there was also the fact that both of them felt comfortable with the other, each of them had their own pains of their past that left ugly scars and yet each of them felt the other wouldn't judge or care.

Anko felt Kakashi run his tongue along her lips as she opened her mouth and soon his tongue was propping her mouth. She moaned feeling his hands on her hips and maybe it was a bit of the alcohol in her system, or the fact that Kakashi was a very good kisser but she didn't want to stop. She ran her hands down from his neck to the front of his shirt.

Eventually they had to break for air both of them taking deep breaths, but also both of them wanting more. Neither of them could remember the last time they had ever had a kiss like that. It had been so intense and passionate.

"So...are you going to invite me in?" Anko asked him a little worried she might be a bit too forward.

Kakashi wasn't sure to end it there or continue on and he knew where it would go if they continued. There would be no going back at this point but he wanted her, he was surprised by how much he wanted her. It had been so very long since he had ever felt anything close to this and he was still human after all.

He opened the door and gently pulled her in without a word, Anko smiled as she kicked the door shut behind her as she nearly jumped onto Kakashi locking her lips with his again. Kakashi wasn't sure how but eventually they made it to his bedroom without much noise, the last thing he needed was to wake Naruto up and for him to see this. Anko felt exhilarated and even a bit anxious, she didn't expect the date to end this way but she would be lying if she said she never thought about this lately.

"Anko," Kakashi said between kisses, "are you sure about this?"

Anko knew that he was giving her a way out but she didn't want to take it, they were both adults and she knew if they did this things would change between them. But this date had shown her that she wanted things to change she really did like him and why put off something that would happen eventually? Life was short enough when you were a ninja and who knew what the future would bring.

"Yes," She said in a husky tone as she nibbled on his ear lobe making him shudder.

"No regrets?" She then asked him.

Kakashi knew what she meant, that they both would have no regrets the next morning. "No regrets."

With that both of them started to strip the other of their clothing, hands and lips explored each other's bodies. Anko gave a pleasured laugh of a woman that promised a night of pleasure as both adults went to his bed to explore a new opening in their relationship together.

**Next up chapter 44: Morning After**


	44. Morning After

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 44: Morning After**

The first thing that Kakashi noticed was that he wasn't alone in his bed. He was on his back and felt the warmth of a body pressed up against his and looked down and he couldn't help but smile. There was Anko sleeping snuggled up to him and using his shoulder to sleep on. He remembered last night and couldn't stop his smile getting larger. Last night had been the best night he had in a long time, the date had been very nice and then last night's 'activities' was more enjoyable then he thought.

He looked to see her hair was down for once and how it framed her face, she looked a lot better with her hair down like this. With his free hand he drew it up and slowly moved aside a strand of hair in her face. She looked so much peaceful asleep and he didn't want to wake her, so he just looked at her memorizing her face at this moment. She sighed as she tried to snuggle closer to him making him smirk; she was totally different in this moment.

She seemed too soft and open like this, there were no masks put in place. He felt like he could see the real her and he liked what he saw. Eventually he realized they would need to get up, in fact he really needed to pee at this moment and gently shook her shoulder.

"Anko, time to wake up." He said.

"Mmmmm, five more minutes," she muttered.

"Come on we need to get up, we can't spend all day in bed," he told her.

"Why not?"

He had to think of an answer as besides his bathroom need, he would rather spend the day in bed like this. "Naruto will be up soon and when he sees us, I'd rather not come looking for me to find us like this."

Although the mental scaring of this image would be pretty funny in Anko's opinion, she knew that he had a point. She slowly pushed herself up and stretched out yawning. She noticed Kakashi staring at her and she smirked at him going into a more sensual pose. "Like what you see?"

Kakashi really could see this being a scene from one of his favourite books, hell Anko could be a star in a movie about them. Although on second thought, he liked the idea of having her and her naked glory all to his own. "Well can't say I can see anything to complain about."

"You got that right!" Anko smiled at him and then she got a more serious face on. "Say...about last night. It wasn't a one time thing was it?"

Kakashi blinked in confusion, did this mean that she was changing her mind about this? He thought that they wouldn't have any regrets about last night but then again there was a bit of drinking but nothing too bad. He was surprised at himself how the thought of her wanting nothing more than just maybe friendship made him feel. The truth was he was actually looking forward to this, he couldn't remember ever feeling like that with another woman before.

Anko was a little nervous when Kakashi didn't say anything she wasn't looking at him and felt the bed shift. Then she felt those strong arms wrap around her body and his head nestled into her shoulder. It felt nice being held like this, in fact she never remembered anyone actually just holding her.

"To tell you the truth I don't want it to be just a one time thing," He told her. "I...well I want to try things out with you that is if you want to."

Anko gave herself a small smile as she twisted around and planted a soft kiss on his lips for her answer.

**-Naruto-**

Naruto wasn't sure where he was, it was night and he looked around as he seemed to be in a wooded area but he didn't know it. He wasn't sure how long he had been walking but he just walked on. Then he heard the water and went towards it hoping to find something. By the time the forest opened up he saw a large lake.

There wasn't anything special about the area but then there was a lot of bubbling from the center of the lake. He got himself ready into a fight stance and waited but what rose up only confused the genin. He thought it was going to be some ninja or maybe a lake monster or something. Instead it looked like a large bowl of ramen with a cap on the top. Naruto blinked in confusion wondering what was going on, then the top of it opened up.

He was greeted to the sight of warm ramen in very large quantities but what he really noticed was that on a piece of naruto (the ramen), sat Hinata. Only she was sitting on it with her legs under her in a sexy like pose. He also noticed that instead of her usual clothing all she had on was her large baggy coat.

"H-hinata-chan!?" Naruto finally spoke out blushing.

"Hello, Naruto-kun," Hinata said without her stutter and in a seductive voice. He never knew that Hinata could sound so hot. She giggled at him as she gave him a heated look, "So would you like a bite to eat, Nar-u-to?"

"Uh...I'm..." Naruto's brain pretty much shut down at how she playfully said his name.

"Or would you like something else?" Hinata giggled again as her hand went to her zipper and started to slowly pull it down. Naruto couldn't stop watching as it seemed to take forever for it to go down. It was opened up and her hands went to the edges of the opening.

Then a suddenly loud noise of his alarm clock went off not only scaring him out of the dream but causing him to hit the floor.

"God dammit!" Naruto muttered into his floor. The best dream in his life and his stupid alarm clock woke him up just before the good part. He glared at the offending machine wondering how destroy the evil machine. Naruto eventually got up and turned it off feeling groggy as usual when he woke up.

He left his room to go to the bathroom but he heard his dad in the kitchen and he could smell breakfast. Seeing all that ramen had made him hungry so he went to eat first then bathroom later. He was still feeling sleepy as he walked into the kitchen and sit into his usual chair.

"Morning," he said absently.

"Hey there," Anko said cooking some eggs. "You want some eggs today?"

"Yeah sure, thanks Aunty Anko," Naruto said rubbing his eyes slowly.

Anko grinned knowing that it took Naruto a bit to fully wake up. She decided not to hide her new relationship with Kakashi from him but this was proving to be a very fun way of him finding out. She mentally counted down in her mind as she waited for his brain to process things.

Naruto froze in mid movement when he suddenly realized that Anko was there. And not only was she there, her hair was down and she was wearing only a very large shirt, one of his dad's shirts actually. She looked like she had slept here in fact.

"What the hell!?" Naruto shouted out pointing at her. "W-what are you doing here so early and dressed like that?"

"Doing here early?" Anko asked him like she didn't understand. "I've been here since last night."

"So...you stayed the night on the couch?" Naruto hoped he was right because there was only one answer for that.

"Morning," Kakashi said in a pair of pants with a towel over his shoulders. He had just gotten out of the shower and noticed the scene in the kitchen. He sighed, he had seen this coming and knowing Anko she was going to yank Naruto's chain as much as she could.

"Morning Kashi-kun," Anko winked at him.

Kakashi blinked at the pet name and then noticed Naruto looking at him with shock. He scratched the back of his head knowing what was going on in his son's mind. So he decided to join in on the fun, mainly since Naruto not once called him sensei and all the other trouble he had caused that he never got back at him for.

"Morning Anko-chan," Kakashi went over and kissed her on the cheek. "Smells good."

"Hey I can cook too you know," she sent a mock glare at him.

"So said I was talking about the food," he said in a more seductive tone as Anko felt a kiss on her neck. She grinned at just how evil he could be and she wished she could see Naruto's face for the moment.

"What the hell is going on!?" Naruto screamed out. "When did this happen, how long was I asleep!?"

Both Anko and Kakashi gave a small laugh as Kakashi sat down with his son to explain things to him.

"Naruto last night I went on a first date with Anko and we liked it. We also like each other and we decided to try things out. So as of now, Anko and myself are dating and I really want you to be okay with this."

Naruto thought about this, he was used to his dad being single but he knew it wasn't fair of him to want him not to date. He also knew it wouldn't be right since he just started to date Hinata and he goes and tells his dad that he doesn't want him to date? He also thought about Anko, to him she was the closest thing to an aunt that he had but what would happen if she was now his dad's girlfriend?

He didn't want things to get weird but then again he couldn't really think of anyone he would be more comfortable with his dad either. Anko was fun to have around at times and she did pretty much help to raise him with his dad over the years. In a strange way his 'family' was staying the same it was just getting a new twist to it.

He looked up at his dad with a smile, "Yeah I'm okay with it."

Kakashi chuckled as he messed up his son's hair. The three of them sat down to breakfast as Anko pressed him for details on his own first date. She had to admit it was fun watching him blush when he talked about Hinata. Meanwhile Kakashi was sitting back at the site, the two of them talking over breakfast like it was the most common thing in the world. He smiled to himself at how it felt, it felt right in some strange way and he was wondering why he never tried this before.

At any rate, Naruto managed to get first dips on the bathroom, much to Anko's annoyance especially since he said she would take forever in there. He would have to patch up the hole in the wall from the cup she threw at him later for that remark.

When Naruto came back Anko and Kakashi were still at the table talking and laughing about something. He gave a small smile at the scene, they really did look good together and he couldn't remember the last time he had seen them both happy.

"Well I'm going to go see if Sasuke wants to train," Naruto said as he went to the door.

"Alright then," Kakashi said to him.

"See ya shorty," Anko said to him knowing he hated the mention of his lack of height.

Naruto got an evil grin as he waited for Anko to take another sip of her coffee. "See you later Tou-san...Kaa-san!"

Anko chocked on her coffee at being called 'mom' by Naruto. "Baka! Don't call me that yet, we've only starting dating!" Anko yelled at Naruto's laughing form. She turned to glare at Kakashi who was chuckling to himself on her reaction.

**Sasuke – Naruto**

The sounds of metal on metal rang through the open area of the Uchiha compound. There in an area set aside for clan training were Naruto and Sasuke training in with their swords. Sasuke was determined to become the better swordsman, but Naruto had years worth of training on him by Kakashi. But that didn't stop him from trying, in fact he was gaining in skill from theses little sparring sessions against Naruto.

Sasuke learned something new from every match and he was slowly getting used to Naruto's style. Although it was hard to totally get used to it, Naruto liked to improvise and usually came up with either unique moves, or moves that were suicidal but he pulled them off anyway. At times he wasn't sure if his friend either didn't care if he got hurt or had a death wish.

It was another thing that Sasuke had come to realize was that Naruto was his friend, his only true friend actually. Sure he thought the masked blonde as annoying and at times an idiot. But no one else pushed him like Naruto did and he had come to have something close to respect for his skills. In fact Sasuke started to look forward to their spars, Naruto was the only real challenge and ever time he beat him it felt like he had accomplished something.

But not today, even though Sasuke's katana was longer than Naruto's sword, Naruto was good and keeping out of Sasuke's reach and yet getting in closer for counter attacks. But Naruto was slow to react today, in fact he was sure that Naruto's mind wasn't even on the spar and this annoyed him. When Sasuke's blade came too close to cutting Naruto, Sasuke stepped back and lowered his sword as a way to say that the spar was over.

Naruto blinked in confusion, "Hey, what's the deal?"

"We're done."

"What!? I was just getting into it."

Sasuke gave a small grunt and turned and walked to the near by bench. "You're distracted. I nearly cut you with that last move and it's not the first time. You're too slow and if you're mind isn't on this then you'll make a mistake that will either injure yourself or me."

Naruto remembered all the lessons that his dad put him through and the first lesson was 'never lose your focus'. If he had so much had wavered his dad would give him a good hit on the head with their wooden swords to get his mind back into it. Naruto still felt he had lost a few good brain cells from that, but his father had refused to let him train with metal weapons until he could show focus.

Naruto now felt like a kid again, he knew that his mind wasn't on the fight. He didn't mean for it to happen, but after everything that was going on with his life he just couldn't help it.

Naruto sighed and walked over to Sasuke as both boys went about cleaning their blades and checking them over for any damage. Both were silent for a moment before Naruto decided to speak up.

"Sorry." He simply said and Sasuke just nodded. "A lot's been on my mind today."

Sasuke gave a small grunt of a laugh, "That's new, what is it? Is Konoha suffering from a ramen shortage?"

"Don't ever joke about that!" Naruto said horrified. That had actually happened once when he had been ten. A merchant group headed to the village had been attacked and many goods had been lost. Naruto had gone without ramen for a week before the replacements could arrive. That had been the most horrible and longest week of his life and he never wanted to go through that again.

"It's just that…well," Naruto said blushing under his mask. "I went out on a date with Hinata-chan yesterday."

"So you finally did it," Sasuke said and then seemed to be thinking on something. "Damn it, you couldn't have waited another week?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Sasuke sighed, "I had a bet placed for next week as you would finally get together."

"What the hell!? Did everyone know about her liking me but me?" Naruto shouted at him. "And how come you betted, I thought you wouldn't be into it?"

Sasuke shrugged, "I figured being on your team would give me a good idea of when it would happen. As for the first question, I think there are people in Suna who know about you and Hinata."

Naruto's head fell at that, did everyone really had known that Hinata had liked him? Plus why didn't anyone tell him that? He already felt like an idiot as he had been looking back at his life and the signs had all been there. Naruto had just thought that was how Hinata was, some best friend he was.

"Well at any rate it's about time," Sasuke said looking at his sword. "That girl has been crushing on you since I saw you two together at the Academy."

Naruto winced again at yet another reminder of his blindness. "Yeah…I think I should make it up to her. I mean, I want to show her a really good time. Hey do you have any advice for dating a girl?"

Sasuke gave him a level look, "Why would I know anything about dating?"

Naruto blinked in confusion, "But when we first met Fuzzy-brows, Neji and Tenten, Sakura-chan said that you two were dating."

Sasuke gave Naruto a look that said 'what are you a moron', before he realized who he was talking to. The Uchiha sighed, he just couldn't understand how Naruto was smart in some things and yet totally clueless with others. He explained how Sakura had asked him for a favour as she didn't want to hurt Lee's feelings at the time with a rejection. He then told him about the deal that Sakura would stop asking for dates. So far she had done just that, it wasn't that Sasuke didn't like her, it was just that he liked her better when she wasn't annoying him every day for a date.

At least she was focusing on her ninja training like a real ninja and he did consider her a friend but that had only been recently. She had proved to him after Wave that she could be a good ninja one day. But as an Uchiha he needed someone that would be good for his clan.

Naruto took all this in and frowned a bit, he had thought that Sakura had picked Sasuke over him. Although he was glad he hadn't lost, if that hadn't had happened then he would most likely be still thinking of Sakura as more than a friend. But he was dating Hinata now because of how things turned out and he was happy with it. He felt bad for Sakura though, he knew that she must still like Sasuke but to agree to that deal must have killed her inside.

"So you don't like Sakura-chan because she's not strong enough?" Naruto asked the dark haired boy.

"I just prefer more mature women," Sasuke told him. "I want someone that is sure of themselves, a strong woman, and above all someone I can respect. Sakura was just another of those damn 'fan girls' for too many years. She's grown but unless she grows up I can't see myself with her."

Naruto thought about it and grunted in frustration, he wanted to help Sakura but if she wasn't to his taste it couldn't be helped. "Then what kind of girl do you like? I mean I haven't seen you even look at a girl seriously. How do you plan to revive your clan then?"

Sasuke gave him a sharp look as he wasn't sure it was any business of Naruto's but after a few seconds he figure he might as well. Knowing him, the masked boy wouldn't give up.

"I prefer girls like that Tenten girl," Sasuke said to him. "Or at last she's the only one that is interesting. She takes the life of a ninja seriously and keeps training herself to be stronger, she's confident and also doesn't turn into a fan girl around me."

Naruto guessed he could see that although he knew something else. "You do know that I think Neji has a thing for her right?"

"He hasn't made a move so it's fair game," Sasuke said bluntly. Plus there was a little perverse pleasure in beating the Hyuga prodigy. The Uchiha and Hyuga had been bitter rivals ever since the Hyuga joined the village after the Uchiha had helped form it with the Senju clan. He saw Neji as a rival and he was determined to show that the Uchiha clan was still better by beating him.

They continued on as they moved to sharpening the blade and after ten minutes Naruto had to tell someone else what he had found out that morning.

"I also found out my dad is dating."

"Seriously?" Sasuke asked wondering who would date Kakashi Hatake. The guy had those perverted books, was never on time and was lazy. How such a legendary status he had no idea. He was wondering how much it was thanks to the eye, that Obito Uchiha had given him.

Naruto nodded his head. "Yeah…they had sex last night too."

Naruto was thankful the rooms had thick walls, he wasn't close to his dad's room and that he slept like a rock. The last thing he needed to know was if his 'Aunt' was a moaner or a screamer. The thought of them naked just sent shivers through his body, even if Anko was pretty she was still 'family' to him. Dating he could handle but no kid wants to know when one of his parents gets laid.

Sasuke wasn't sure to laugh at his misfortune or cringe in sympathy.

"It gets better too," Naruto sighed. "Remember my Aunt Anko?"

"That crazy purple haired woman?" He asked Naruto who nodded. "Yeah what about her?"

"She's the one who my dad is dating."

Sasuke blinked a few times, he remembered Anko from her training Sakura in the use of her tonfas and the woman was a bit scary. He looked at Naruto and considered what that would mean for him.

"I feel sorry for your future."

"Gee, thanks you bastard," Naruto glared at him.

"Anytime, idiot." Sasuke said with a ghost of a smirk on his face.

**-Later-**

Anko was smiling to herself as she walked down the streets of the village. After showering at Kakashi's place she went home to change into her clothing. Apparently she also had found a summons at her place to show up to the Hokage tower when she could. The meeting hadn't been what she expected as she was now slatted to oversee the second part of the chunin exams. She had forgotten about those exams, but at least she was being given a fun part.

She really didn't want to run the first part of the exam and the last was just being a referee, which was boring. At least with the survival trail she could see some more interesting things. She would have to look over the Forest of Death soon to make sure it was ready.

Although there wasn't much to look over but you never knew what you'd find. Sometimes teams would leave traps just laying around, although that was perfectly legal it wouldn't do for them to just lay around. Plus there had been that one year one of the wild life had chewed through the gate and a bunch of genins had nearly been eaten before they got to their gate.

But that was something else to worry about, right now she was happy and she wanted to stay that way. She sighed as she thought about things, Anko could never remember feeling this happy. She stopped as the looked at her reflection in a window and thought of how Kakashi said he liked how she looked with her hair down.

'_I wonder, would it be a good idea to change my hair?'_ Anko thought about it. Although it meant less time on her hair she liked having it up as it was more practical. Pulling on hair was a very dirty and well used trick in fighting. _'Maybe for when I'm off work then.'_

It felt a little strange, her changing a little something like her hair just to please someone else. She remembered that if she ever seriously considered dating someone she wouldn't change at all. She shook her head at that, but at least Kakashi wasn't asking to her to change who she was. If he had then she would give him holy hell for it, but she had a feeling he would never do anything like that. When she first met him, she thought him an odd one but over the years she learned to really respect him. He took in a child at such a young age and raised him as best he could. Plus his skills were amazing in the field and despite his oddities he was a pretty decent guy.

'_He's also gorgeous under that mask,'_ Anko smirked to herself. Oh yes, she had seen up close and personal the mysterious Kakashi face, and it was all hers now.

"Anko, there you are."

Anko turned surprised to see Kurenai walking towards her. Then she remembered that she was to tell Kurenai everything on her date last night. It was too late to fake not hearing her and sneaking off plus she had been stupid enough to make eye contact. It wasn't that she was embarrassed, she just wasn't into the girly stuff like Kurenai was.

"Oh hey there," Anko said as her best friend got close enough. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Kurenai said giving Anko a bit of hope she wasn't going to ask. "So how was last night?"

'_Damn. Stupid hope.'_ Anko thought darkly.

"Oh it was good, you know the usual stuff," Anko said to her.

Kurenai gave her a level look, after all the time she had spent listening to Anko go on and on about Kakashi, borrowing her stuff for that date and she knew that Anko had manipulated events at that lake with Asuma. Anko was not getting off with just a simple explanation. This resulted in Kurenai literally dragging her away to Anko's favourite dango shop. If there was anything that would loosen her tongue, Kurenai knew it was Anko's sweet tooth with a bribe of free dango and her own persuasive means.

If Anko knew that Kurenai could be such a manipulative women, she would have asked her to join the Interrogation and Torture department. So after about ten minutes of prying it out of her, Anko finally gave in. It wasn't that she was embarrassed she was just kind of a private person at times. She was comfortable with this and she didn't want it to turn into a big deal.

So Anko told Kurenai about the date.

"Well it seems like you have a good time," Kurenai said sipping some tea she had ordered. "I'm amazed he kept the mask on even during dinner."

"Tell me about it, I'm not sure what I spent more time on. Trying to catch him eating or talking," Anko smiled. She knew that it was just a little 'game' of Kakashi's to make people try and catch him without the mask. He had been wearing it for so long she knew that only a handful of people must know what he looked like.

"It was also fun giving Naruto a little scare in the morning," Anko chuckled.

"In the morning?" Kurenai asked. Anko had ended her story just before they got back to his place so she had no way of knowing what Anko was talking about. This gave the purple haired ninja a grin on the inside as a way of having her own little fun.

"Yeah, he walked in on me with just my panties and a shirt," Anko said with a shrug like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Why did he walk in on you like that?" Kurenai asked shocked.

"Well I did spend the night," Anko rolled her eyes like it had been a dumb question.

Kurenai's eyes widened at that, she had no idea that things had gone that far. "You mean that you and Kakashi..."

"Horizontal tango? The beast with two backs? Getting hot and heavy? Rolling in the hay?"

"Anko!" Kurenai said blushing a bit.

"Oh come on, you have to lighten up it's just sex. You are an adult right?" Anko asked the older woman. She never understood how Kurenai could be so prude when it came to sex at times. Her friend needed to loosen up at some point, especially if Kurenai ever expected to get anywhere with Asuma with an attitude like that. At this rate it would take years for them to get together if neither of them started to grow a spine and just ask the other out.

"It's just I'm not comfortable with thinking of Kakashi like that," Kurenai said to Anko. Kakashi was a friend and she really wasn't that interested in the sex lives of her friends.

"Oh really?" Anko grinned leaning forward. "You'd be amazed at what's under all that ninja gear. If you think he had a good body in a swim suit you should see what he's got under it."

Kurenai blushed even more at the lewd insinuation. "A-Anko!"

"You know I wonder if Asuma can measure up, I mean damn last night was amazing. But I doubt anyone is as good as Kakashi-kun," Anko sighed happily while noticing the growing look on Kurenai's face. It was subtle but knowing her so well she could see the other woman fighting to keep her emotions off her face. Anko had just basically insulted Asuma and now Kurenai was wrestling with defending him or not.

Anko decided to push it just a bit more. "But then again, I've seen Asuma's body and there isn't anything special that I can see."

Now Kurenai was getting angry.

"I'll have you know that I think he has a great body," Kurenai said with her anger tightly controlled.

"Whose body is great?"

Kurenai froze as she paled at that voice. She slowly turned to see none other then Asuma right behind her looking at her curiously. A snicker from Anko and Kurenai turned angrily over to her friend.

Anko had seen Asuma walking close by and thought this was the perfect opportunity to have some really good fun. Kurenai's face when she heard Asuma's voice was priceless, oh how she wished she had a camera at that point. Maybe today was going to be a good day after all as she watched Kurenai trying to talk herself out of what she had just said out loud. Anko sat back eating on her dango watching a blushing Kurenai and a confused Asuma.

'_Ah dinner and a show,'_ Anko chuckled to herself. _'Too bad Kakashi isn't here, he would love this just as much.'_

**Next up Chapter 45: The Chunin Exams**


	45. The Chunin Exams

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 45: The Chunin Exams**

Hinata woke up that day, happy as usual lately ever since she and Naruto started to date a few days ago things had been better for her. Why wouldn't it after all, she had been dreaming of dating Naruto since she started to have these strong feelings for him. She loved hanging out with him normally when they had been friends, but now that they were a couple it was only better. She blushed at how he would hold her hand as they walked, or they would link their arms as well. Then of course there were the kisses, this made her blush even more.

They usually kissed in private, so he could pull down his mask and she was still a little embarrassed as well in public. At least she could still kiss him on the cheek in public, at any rate things were going well for her. Her pet rabbit was doing much better as well, he looked much healthier now and so she managed to take him outside. This was where she was now watching as Haku-kun was nibbling on some grass.

She heard some steps coming towards her and turned to see her father coming. She was a little worried since she had no idea what he might want.

"I see you're taking good care of your pet," He said to her looking at the rabbit.

Hinata nodded her head, "Y-yes. He needed some food and care and he's doing much better."

Hiashi nodded his head, "It's good that you have shown the ability to take responsibility."

There was a moment of silence and mainly it was because Hiashi was meaning to talk to his oldest daughter about something. Lately he had heard the rumours concerning his daughter, and he wanted to make sure how much was true. Although he wasn't looking forward to this, he knew it would happen sooner or later. He just wished his late wife was still alive, this was more of a mother/daughter talk but it needed to be done.

"Hinata, I've heard a few things lately. Mainly from others in the compound saying that they've seen you with the Naruto." He began and noticed her nervous look. "Normally this isn't a major deal as you two have been friends since childhood. But I believe that the things that had been witnessed were more than just forms of friendship."

Hinata knew that her father would find out sooner or later, if there were something to get around quickly in this village it would be scandal, rumour or gossip. Plus she and Naruto hadn't been very secretive.

"Hinata?" Hiashi said to her since she had gone quiet.

"Y-yes, uh...Well it's just that, N-Naruto-kun and me are, dating..."

Hiashi sighed knowing that his worse fear had come about. His eldest daughter had finally started to date. He had hoped that he would have a bit more time before that happened. He also knew the issues that the clan elders would raise. It was hard just for those in the branch family to seek someone outside of the clan, because in the end all children would have the seal placed on them to ensure their bloodline would stay in the clan. Another issue was that the main branch family usually had some type of arrangement with another member of the main branch.

It was a painstaking process because you had to ensure that first; the two weren't too closely related for obvious reasons. Another was that Hinata was the heir of the clan so her suitor would have to be someone important. For a main branch member to date outside the clan as far as he knew, was unheard of. But he and his wife had seen this coming. Hinata had been taken with Naruto for years even before her feelings had obviously grew with time.

"Hinata, I must ask you this. How serious are your feelings for the Hatake boy?"

Hinata was caught off guard by this question at first. "I-I...care about him, a lot father."

Hiashi knew it was more than that, his daughter had been infatuated with the boy for awhile after all. But there were a few concerns that he had to deal with before the clan elders heard of this.

"Daughter, you know how our clan has certain laws and rules? Well how serious are you about dating this boy because it won't be easy. The elders will most likely not take this well, so are you willing to fight for what you care about?"

Hinata hadn't thought about the elders, sure her father was head of the clan but the elders were also in place as a buffer. They were there to ensure that no one leader had too much power, but the drawback was that they had over time, become too set in their ways. They also held some power with certain members of the clan so it was a delicate power balance.

She was actually a bit afraid of elders, she had only seen then a few times when she was younger. But the few times she had met them left their mark on her. Then she thought about Naruto, he was the best thing that had happened in her life or at least one of them. She thought about how their relationship was now and she didn't want to lose it. Life without Naruto by her side seemed empty somehow.

She looked up at her father and he was a bit surprised by the look in her eyes. They still held that kindness that reminded him of his wife but there was something else growing in them. He stopped himself from smirking at the inner strength that seemed to be growing in her.

"Yes, I will fight for Naruto-kun." She told him without even a hint of a stutter.

"Very well then, but you should prepare for a fight with the elders about this Hinata," He told her. "Also when there is time I would like for you to bring Naruto over for dinner one night. I would also like to talk to him, in a more 'official' dinner that is."

Hinata's sudden courage ran out at that moment, she wasn't sure how Naruto would react to that. Sure he had been over before but this sounded more official then the times he came over when they were younger.

"A formal dinner?" Hinata asked and he nodded his head. Hinata nodded her head in understanding. She would have to tell Naruto this the first time she got to see him.

"Now that, that is out of the way I also came here to tell you that your sensei is here to see you. Apparently she had something to ask you and your team." Hiashi said as he turned to leave.

He saw the red eyes jonin and nodded to her as she went to Hinata. He was pleased to see that the woman had done a good job with his daughter so far. One of the reasons he felt that Hinata would better serve becoming a ninja of the village was because so far she had been unsuited for the Hyuga style of training. She just didn't have it in her at that age to take the training so he felt being a ninja, Hinata could be of better service and prove herself more.

He mentally sighed though as now he had even bigger issues to deal with than how the elders viewed his daughter. Now he had to deal with boys and for a father that was nothing any father looked forward to. He was a bit envious that his brother had a son, with Neji his brother wouldn't have to worry about this kind of thing.

**-Ramen Bar-**

Team 7 was once more at Naruto's favourite place for lunch this day; the team took turns on where to go for lunches and today had been Naruto's turn to pick. He had just finished his fifth bowl putting it down, he always enjoyed the ramen here it was the best in the world in his opinion. Then he noticed that Sakura and Sasuke had been looking at him.

"What? Do I have something on my mask?" Naruto asked.

"I give up," Sakura stated putting her bowl away. "I know I've seen your face but I still don't see how you keep managing to eat without taking it off."

"I gave up on that awhile ago," Sasuke said. "I'm just wondering how the hell he keeps eating so much."

"I'd stick my tongue out at you but I'm more mature than that," Naruto stated to Sasuke.

"You'd have to take your mask off to do that, and you and mature don't belong in the same sentence."

"Hey! I am too mature!" Naruto shouted at the boy.

Sasuke gave him a levelled look, "This from the boy that painted the Hokage monument."

"Uh..." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well I haven't done any pranks for awhile."

"Anyway, why do you think Kakashi-sensei is late today?" Sakura asked changing the subject. "Plus why has he been a bit too happy lately as well, Naruto?"

"He's been busy lately with his new girlfriend," Naruto said quietly to himself. It wasn't that he didn't mind although the fact that he caught them making out on the couch when he walked in. He really didn't want to see his father getting busy and although Anko was the girlfriend it was hard seeing her in a sexual way.

Well mostly hard, given how she dressed but he tried not to think about it, this was the woman that had babysat him, took him to the park when his dad was too busy, was there for his birthdays. She was family to him and although it made them happy it was still a little weird at times for him.

"What was that?" Sakura who was next to him had thought she caught what he had said. "What's this about a girlfriend?"

Naruto groaned, the Hatake family was a bit of a private family so it was the reason why he didn't go around blurting out things like that normally.

"His dad is dating that insane purple haired woman," Sasuke said.

"Anko-sensei!?" Sakura asked. She was the only one that called Anko that, given the woman taught her in the use of the tonfas after all. Plus she had seen that the woman was a special jonin for a reason. She was odd but Sakura lately had started to admire the woman a bit. There were few female ninja that a girl could look up to and to Sakura, Anko was one of them.

"Sasuke, I told you that in confidence!" Naruto yelled at his friend.

He just sat there and shrugged, "Not like people wouldn't have found out sooner or later you know."

Naruto hated it when Sasuke made a valid point, he wanted to argue it but sooner or later people would notice.

"So I guess that means both you and your dad are off the market then, isn't it Naruto?" Ayame giggled as she gave him his next bowl. She had seen Naruto and Hinata in here yesterday and it was easy to see that the two friends were even more than friends. When her father had asked Naruto about it, the boy had proudly said he was glad to be dating Hinata.

"What does she mean by that?" Sakura asked Naruto with narrowed eyes.

"Oops," Naruto had forgotten to mention it to Sakura that he was dating Hinata. He had just been enjoying himself so much lately that it honestly slipped his mind.

"Oops?" the pink haired girls mimicked dangerously.

"I was going to tell you, honest!" Naruto said holding up his hands in defence.

"What were you going to tell me?" Sakura asked him.

"He's dating Hinata finally," Sasuke said getting annoyed with all of this. Naruto should have just told her and ended it there.

"What!? When did this start?" She demanded from Naruto.

"Uh...a few days," the boy said nervously.

Sakura glared at him, sure she had given up the chase, but as a friend she still felt like she should have known. Naruto attempted to apologize but she just crossed her arms and ignored him, she would make him work for her forgiveness. Although she was silently happy for Naruto and Hinata, but still he should have at least told her. At least she had some juicy gossip for Ino to share the next she saw her.

"On come on Sakura-chan, how many times will I have to say sorry?" Naruto whined.

"Do I want to know what you did now?" Kakashi asked as he came into the ramen shop. He heard the last of that and from the look of Sakura, Naruto was in trouble for doing something.

"He forgot to mention that he was dating Hinata," Sasuke replay and ignored the dirty look from Naruto.

"Well that explains it," Kakashi said as though that was it.

"Are you really dating Anko-sensei?" Sakura asked their jonin sensei.

"Yep," Kakashi said not saying anything else. He could see the young girl wanted more than that, but that was all she was getting. What he and Anko did, well that was just between the two of them. Although it had been only a few days, things were working out nice. He had never really been in a real relationship before.

Then again, neither had Anko, it was new territory for the both of them really. So they were slowly making their way through it all, learning as they went. Well the physical side of things weren't so bad at least, that they had discovered that the other could be very passionate. Hell she brought out a fire in him at times he never knew he had. There was just something about the taste of her lips, it was a mixture of sweet and a hint of iron. Then of course her smooth skin and the way she smelled too.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"Huh?" Kakashi was pulled from his thoughts at Sakura yelling his name.

"Dad you've been sitting there for a few minutes now, mind telling us why you asked us to meet up today?" Naruto asked.

"Ah yes, I nearly forgot," He smiled at them as he pulled out several sheets of paper. "These are the forms you all need to fill out for the chunin exams."

"You're letting us go into the chunin exams!?" Naruto exclaimed as he snatched up his forms eagerly. His father had taught him how you advance in rank in the ninja world and the chunin exams where the first major step.

Kakashi nodded, "I think you've all proven that your all capable. But know this, all of you have to agree to this because it is a team effort. If one of you have any doubts at all then you speak up now."

"Done!" Naruto said slamming his completed form onto the table.

Kakashi blinked a few times and then sighed, he should have known Naruto would just jump right in. So he picked it up and put it away and looked at the others. Sakura seemed a little nervous but she seemed to be filling her form out, Sasuke didn't hesitate at all as he filled his out. When they were all done he gathered up the forms, a little bit proud that they all seemed to stick together, they would need that for the up and coming trails.

"Well then, it will be in a few days so rest up. You'll all need it and a piece of advice, look out for each other. Teamwork is what will get you all through this and never forget that."

"Sure thing dad," Naruto grinned up at him.

"Well then, I suggest you all go and get prepared," Kakashi stood up and left his team to talk amongst themselves. He could already hear the excited talking among them and he hoped they all would pass. There was another reason for wanting them to take the exam, sure he felt their teamwork was good enough, plus their skills were above normal genin. But he felt that great things were expected of his team, when he first made his pitch for why he wanted the top three students, he had to live up to it.

Sure the Wave Mission was a good step but now, they really had to prove that Team 7 could be everything he had claimed it could be. A bit of him was worried, mainly the part of him that was a father. Fatherhood had changed him a bit, he didn't deny it, but now he found himself worrying a bit more over the kids. He sighed as he made his way to the Hokage tower, he just hoped things would be okay. People died in these exams but he had to have faith in them.

Back at the ramen bar something hit Sakura, "Hey wait a minute. Who won?"

Naruto watched as Sasuke gave her a sheet of paper as she looked through it. Naruto couldn't believe that Sakura was in on it too. He really didn't like that people had been making bets behind his back and so he quickly snatched it away.

"Hey!" Sakura shouted out.

Naruto scanned the list and he couldn't believe it, everyone from class was on it. Even Konohamaru and Hanabi were on this and Ayame and her father. He casts both of the ramen stand workers a small glare, they both suddenly found some work to do and turned their backs to the boy. There was Asuma, even Kurenai on it. Even Anko and his own father was on this list, the biggest shock was the Hokage himself.

"What the hell!? Did the entire village know about this!?" Naruto demanded.

"Calm down," Sasuke told him. "It's not that big a deal."

"Yeah," Sakura said. "We were just hoping you two would get together anyway. So, who won?"

Naruto looked at the dates, "Shikamaru apparently, hey wait! Sakura-chan, you had a date a few years from now! So did Ino and Anko, what the hell!?"

"Well, with how you were totally oblivious and her too shy..." Sakura trailed off. She also had made the bet back when she thought she might want to try a date with him as well. Now she and Sasuke had to listen to Naruto rant on about how he thought his friends had no faith in him. It would be a very long lunch hour.

**-Later-**

It was later in the day and the team had gone their separate ways, Sasuke said he needed to get some new equipment for the exams, and Sakura went to find Ino. Already Naruto could hear Ino yelling at him for keeping such big news secret. He sighed to himself, it wasn't like he wanted to keep it secret, he had honestly just forgot to tell them. At any rate, he was already on his way to meet up with Hinata, hence the smile on his face.

Despite what happened at lunch, he was now in a much better mood. After all he was on his way to see his girlfriend.

He couldn't help but notice how cute she was recently, he loved the way she blushed as it made her even cuter, plus her skin was always so soft. He kicked himself for not noticing her before now, all that time wasted. Well he was going to make up for it. He had been planning on some major dates to make up for it. He had been looking for any festivals in nearby villages that he could take her too, plus a real fancy restaurant. There was that small movie theatre but the new Princess Gale movie wouldn't be here for a few months. He really wanted to take her to that movie, as he loved those movies and he knew Hinata liked them too.

At any rate he was hoping she didn't have any training today, or would be on missions. But when he got to the tree in the park they always used to play under when they were younger, he stopped to just look at her. She really was cute and the kindest person he could remember. Just looking at her you could see it, almost like she radiated purity. After a moment he walked over to her and when she saw him, he could see her smile.

It wasn't the usual kind he noticed, but lately she got this smile that she only showed to him. He liked that smile the most.

"N-Naruto-kun, how was today?" She asked as he sat down with her.

"Pretty good, although Sakura-chan was made I forgot to tell her that I was dating you," He chuckled.

"Naruto-kun, you didn't tell her?"

"Well it's not like you told your team," then he noticed her look. "Oh...you did tell them then."

"Of course," She said. "I would never keep this kind of thing from them. Plus Kiba-kun, kept asking why I was so happy and so I told them. They were very happy for me, so why didn't you tell your team?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well my dad already knew, I told Sasuke but I just forgot. I mean I was enjoying things so much and well, it just slipped my mind. Hey wait a minute-did Kiba or Shino exchange money or mutter anything about a bet?"

Hinata blinked in surprised after they had congratulated her, something had happened. Kiba had asked Shino, who was closest and the bug user took out a small note book. He cast a look and said something about Shikamaru. Even Kurenai seemed to have sighed at that for some reason.

"How did you know?" Hinata asked confused.

"I hate our friends sometimes," Naruto muttered. Then he explained the entire bet, Hinata's face went totally red from embarrassment.

Hinata couldn't believe it, her friends, her teammates and even her sensei and little sister had been on it. She thought only her little sister had known, but everyone knew and made bets. She felt totally mortified. She groaned and hid her face in her hands she must have looked like a fool for so long. Then she felt an arm around her as Naruto pulled her close.

"Hey I know," Naruto said softly to her. "I'm already planning my revenge, you want to help me?"

Hinata wasn't sure at first, she knew that pranks could be funny at times. But she never had the nerve to try and pull any.

"Oh come one, think of it as a couple's night out?" Naruto grinned at her.

Hinata twiddled with her fingers at first, spending more time with Naruto would be fun. Plus she didn't like how all those people had bet on her and Naruto like that. So she eventually nodded her head, Naruto smiled knowing she wouldn't let him down.

"Um...Naruto-Kun?" Hinata remembered something else she had to tell him. "There is something that we'll have to do, but it will have to wait for a month or so."

"Oh?"

Hinata nodded, "My team just entered the chunin exams so-"

"Wait, Team 8 joined up too? That's great!" Naruto shouted. "My team will be there also, this is going to be great!"

"N-Naruto-kun," she said trying to get his attention.

"Opps, sorry. You were saying?"

"My father found out we were dating today," She looked down at her hands. She didn't see Naruto pale suddenly.

Although he was good friends with the Hyuga clan, the little run in with Neji had him nervous enough as it was. Now he had to deal with her father as well. He liked her dad, don't get him wrong, but the guy could be a little intimidating at times. He knew that her father would find out eventually, just not so soon. The sudden image of dodging the gentle fist style from her father came into his mind.

"M-My father wants you to come to a formal dinner when we get the time," Hinata said and then heard a thump. She quickly turned to see a slumped over Naruto, "Naruto-kun!"

She shook him, trying to get him up but he was out like a light. It would take her a couple of minutes to wake up and when he did, his good mood was suddenly changed to a sense of impending doom for the near future.

**Next up Chapter 46: May the Exams Begin**

**As a heads up, anyone that likes Kakashi/Anko stories I found a new one called Rise from Darkness by Jasper09. It's pretty good so give it a try if you like that pairing.**


	46. May the Exams Begin

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 46: May the Exams Begin**

This was the day, the day that Naruto and his friends would enter into the chunin exams. He had barely gotten any sleep that night as he had been too excited. When he caught up with his teammates he could tell that both of them looked to have a little trouble sleeping as well. But they were all looking forward to this.

They made their way to the academy, Naruto wanted to run there but both teammates held him back. Sakura scolded him to keep his excitement down, they needed to focus and there was no telling what they would be up against. As they made their way there, Team 7 noticed other teams going to the building.

"Looks like a few other teams are here," Naruto muttered looking at the different forehead protectors. "I can see a Grass Nin team and is that a Mist headband?"

"Looks like it," Sasuke said seeing the three man team Naruto pointed out.

Naruto felt a bit nervous about that, it was a good thing that Zabuza wasn't here with Haku. He had wanted to know if they could come but his dad had warned him that it was a bad idea the last time Naruto sent a letter to Wave. After all, Zabuza was 'officially' listed as dead and if someone recognized the man it wouldn't have been good.

"Looks like Iwa finally sent a team this year," Naruto muttered seeing the markings of the Village Hidden in the Rocks. His dad had told him stories of the last Great War, there were still hard feelings between the villages, mainly from Iwagakure since they had lost the war. Normally when Konoha held the chunin exams Iwa didn't always send a team. Apparently this year things were different.

"Hey, out of the way Shorty," said a voice that came behind Team 7.

Naruto turned to see who called him that, as he was still a bit sensitive about his height. Behind him was an older boy in some kind of black suit with purple face paint and something on his back. With them was a blonde girl and standing a little off to the side was a red headed boy. There was something off with the last one; he just kept staring into space looking bored. He was kind of creepy looking too.

"What did you call me?" Naruto challenged him.

"You heard me," the boy said.

"I think the last person that should insult someone, is a guy who wears makeup on his face!" Naruto shouted out at him.

"What the hell did you say!?" The older boy said angrily. "This is war paint you little shrimp!"

"Call me that again and you'll need more makeup to cover the bruises on your face."

"That's enough Naruto," Sakura said to him knowing his temper. "Are you three Sand ninja, our villages are supposed to be allies so I apologize for his behaviour."

"But he started it," Naruto whined but was silenced by an angry glare by Sakura.

"Kankuro that's enough out of you as well," The blonde said to him.

"Oh come on Temari," Kankuro said back. "I was just having some fun."

"Be that as it may, the girl is right." Temari glared at her younger brother. "We're here for the chunin exams and I won't let you get us getting kicked out for fighting with a team when we haven't even gotten into the building.

"We're wasting time." The red headed boy suddenly said. "We're moving, now."

The way the boy spoke was something that Team 7 couldn't miss, he was quiet but there was a threatening undertone to it all. They were also surprised by the killing intent behind the boy as well, that was directed at his own teammates.

"O-of course Gaara," Temari said quickly as the Suna team moved off.

"Man I'm so glad we don't have a guy like that on our team," Naruto muttered. "Was he giving anyone else the creeps?"

"Yeah," Sakura said. She had just met the boy but there was something just, not right about him. Those cold emotionless eyes and face and his voice was very off putting. Sasuke just gave a small grunt as he walked on.

"Bastard is trying to be cool again," Naruto muttered to himself.

With that Team 7 entered the academy it was weird to be back here after spending so much time as genins. Although they didn't have time to think about old times as when they made it to the second floor they noticed a whole group there. They saw Team Gai arguing with a couple of older kids who seemed to be trying to keep people out. They kept on saying things like how everyone here wouldn't make it, how hard the exam was and things like that.

Naruto was a bit confused when he saw Tenten and her team being pushed around.

"Why the hell doesn't she just kick his ass?" Naruto said to his friends.

"Quiet," Sasuke told him. "Can't you see what's going on?"

At Naruto's blank look he sighed wondering why he let himself become friends with an idiot. "They're acting; everyone here is against each other's teams, remember? That means everyone here is looking to see what the other can do."

"So if they act weak, everyone here will think they're weak." Naruto suddenly got it. He had to admit it was a neat trick.

"There's something else odd," Sakura said as she noticed something else. "We're on the second floor so why does that room number say it's the third?"

Everyone looked at the small sign above the door, it was then Sasuke cast a quick look behind them and noticed the other doors started with a two. He gave a small grin as he caught on to the genjutsu. He explained it to them and said they should quietly make their way around this. Sakura agreed that it would give them better odds in the exam if they didn't blow the genjutsu. Besides she caught Team Gai sneaking past when another group challenged the two boys.

"Nice acting job guys," Naruto said as they caught up to Team Gai.

"Thanks," Tenten said then rubbed her ass. "Although I wish I could have landed better."

"Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun!" Lee came up to them with a huge gleaming smile. "I was glad to hear that you all joined as well, let us all compete and see whose flames of youth burn brightest!"

"Huh, you said something?" Naruto said as though he wasn't listening.

"Ah!" Lee pointed an accusing finger at Naruto. "You are using your father's hip and too cool attitude!"

"Great," Neji muttered to himself next to Tenten. "Now it's Gai and Kakashi; the next generation."

Tenten giggled at the joke covering her mouth as Naruto and Lee acted like Gai and Kakashi. She noticed Sakura and Sasuke walk up leaving the other two to their little interactions.

"Hey Tenten," Sakura greeted. "It's nice to see a familiar face in this."

"Yeah but remember, we may be friends but in this it's every team for themselves." Tenten said in a friendly tone.

Sakura nodded in agreement, "Oh trust me I've been working on my tonfas and a few other things in case we meet up again."

"Then I look forward to it." Tenten told her as both girls shook hands.

It was then that they noticed that Sasuke and Neji were posing and staring at the other, neither one wanted to show any weakness to the other. This left both girls to sigh at this, it just seemed that they couldn't expect those two to get alone for a few seconds.

"Hyuga," Sasuke said.

"Uchiha," Neji returned.

With the friendly greeting out of the way Sasuke turned to face the girls. He noticed Tenten and suddenly an evil idea entered his mind, after all he remembered what Naruto did around her to get under Neji's skin so why let it go to waste? Naruto had a girlfriend and couldn't continue the little fun, plus he had to admit Tenten interested him.

"It's nice to see you again," He said to the weapons girl.

Tenten was surprised at this but gave a smile back, "Yeah nice to see you too."

"I look forward to seeing you show your skills out there," Sasuke told her and then leaned in a bit close. "You know, Naruto isn't the only one that thought you were cute."

With that he moved off leaving a very blushing Tenten behind and Sasuke could swear he heard Neji grinding his teeth together, or at least he imagined the other boy was.

Team 7 after prying Naruto away from Lee, got to the front doors. No one was there so they entered into and they couldn't believe what they found. The entire room was nearly filled up with genins from all over the place.

"Great," Naruto muttered. "So much for thinning out the crowd downstairs."

"Oh well just another challenge right?" Sakura said trying to be optimistic.

Sasuke was about to make a comment when a loud piercing scream made him flinch. He also felt the familiar arms of another annoying blonde in his life as Ino latched onto him. Seriously, couldn't the girl take the hint he wasn't interested in fan girls? He was wondering if he could convince Tenten to pose as his girlfriend of something to get them off his back for once.

"Ino!" Sakura yelled at her. "You know that Sasuke-kun hates that!"

"Oh come on I hardly ever get to see my precious Sasuke-kun," Ino whined. "You get him all to yourself you know."

Naruto snickered at Sasuke's face as he tried to get out of Ino's grasp once again. "So where's Choji and Shikamaru?"

"Over here man," Choji said as he and his life long friend walked up to them.

"I'm surprised you guys could get Shikamaru to enter into this," Naruto joked.

Shikamaru just sighed. "Ino threatened to make my life a living hell if she couldn't enter into this. My life is troublesome enough as it is without her on my case all the time about this. I really didn't want to do six months of her complaining until the next one."

"Figures," Naruto smirked. "So where's Team 8?"

"Why looking for your girlfriend?" Kiba asked him as he came forward with a huge grin on Naruto's blushing face, at least the blush that could be seen just above his mask.

"At least I got a girlfriend dog breath," Naruto told him.

"Yeah? And it took you only how long to realize that she likes you?" Kiba laughed as Naruto had nothing more to say on that.

"Kiba-kun be nice," Hinata's voice said as she walked out from behind her teammate. Then she turned and smiled brightly at Naruto. "Hello Naruto-kun."

"Hey there Hinata-chan," Naruto said brightly taking a hand in his and giving her a light peek on the cheek. Making the young girl blush but still smiling at it. "Missed you, and good luck today."

"Y-You too Naruto-kun." She smiled back at him.

Ino sighed at the sight, "Why can't Sasuke-kun be like that with me?"

"Because he doesn't like you?" Shikamaru sighed.

Ino quickly glared at the shadow user. "Shut it!"

"You kids really should learn to keep it down."

They looked to see a genin that was a few years older than they were, he had glasses with white hair but he seemed to have a friendly manner about him. "You're starting to get on the nerves of the others."

Everyone looked behind him to see a room full of glares at their antics.

"Oops," Naruto chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "we'll keep it down, uh…sorry I didn't get your name."

"That's because I didn't say it yet," the boy smiled at them. "I'm Kabuto Yakushi."

"So is this your fist time here?" Sakura asked him.

"Oh no I've done this many times before, it's kind of embarrassing actually." Kabuto said giving a small laught.

"Oh man how hard is this?" Ino moaned, she had hoped to pass but if this guy had been doing it several times, she suddenly didn't have such high hopes anymore.

"Well if it was easy anyone could make chunin," Kabuto explained to her. "Although this year I think I got the inside track. You see all this time has given me a good insight to all the competition. I've been gathering information on all the people here so I know what they can and can't do."

"That would be extremely helpful," Shino observed. "But wouldn't such information be valuable to others as well?"

Kabuto smiled as he pulled out what looked like blank cards. "I thought of that, that's why I made these. These cards hold all my information but they respond to my chakra only so only I can use them. Watch this."

With that he pulled out a card and a slight blue glow showed up around it. Then the information suddenly appeared, there were states, a bio and even a picture. It was a very detailed piece of information actually.

"Let's see who we got here…ah look at that. Sasuke Uchiha, genin of the year of his graduating class, put on Team 7 under Kakashi Hatake. You have 16 D rank missions, one that was turned into a B rank and another that went up to an A rank mission. That's impressive for someone that young. Now then says here you have a few fire jutsus under your belt, activated you Sharingan and you're above average with swords. Family fighting style of Intercepting Fist is your primary taijutsu style as you're above genin level in hand to hand."

"Also says you're the only of two living Uchiha left in the world as well, given that your brother-"

"That's enough," Sasuke snapped at him. The last thing he wanted was to go through that personal history. He also didn't want to go into his brother, he knew what that man did and there was no need to open that door to his past up again.

"That seemed kind of specific," Kiba remarked.

"Well I do my research plus as a Konoha ninja I have better access to those in our village." Kabuto explained to him. "But I still have information on the other just in case as well."

"Really?" Sasuke asked then looked at the sand team. "What can you tell us about that Suna team?"

Kabuto pulled out the cards and read them off apparently they're all siblings and the children of Suna's Kage. Kankuro was something called a puppet user, this was a bit lost on the genins as they had never heard of it. Apparently it was a specialty in Suna that uses giant ninja puppets. Temari was a wind user and top Kunoichi of her class with very high marks. Gaara was a bit more of a mystery other than he used some kind of sand jutsu but what was really odd was the team's mission profiles. They had many B ranked missions and Gaara had never been injured once while on them.

"What? That can't be right," Kiba said looking at the card. "No one can go on those missions and not get hurt, at least not a genin."

"Well I assure you that my cards are very accurate," Kabuto stated pushing up his glasses slightly.

"Looks like that team is the one to be careful of," Sakura said casting a slight worried looked at the Suna team.

"Hey don't worry," Naruto said smiling at her. "They never met us yet and we'll show them what Konoha ninja are made of."

"Hey I don't recognize their headband," Choji said as he noticed a trio in the room.

"Which ones?" Ino asked looking around.

"The girl with the long hair, with the boy and the other guy with bandages all over him."

"Oh I see them, yeah that is weird," Ino said noticing the symbol. "What kind of village uses a musical note as a symbol?"

"Ah that would be the Sound Village," Kabuto explained. "You see they're a new village in fact this is their first chunin exam. But not much is known about them, since like I said they are new and in one of the smaller nation."

"Hey you got a problem with us?" One of the Sound genin said as the trio moved closer. They had been listening in and they didn't like the way the Leaf genin was talking about their village, almost like he was looking down on them just because their village was new. Well they were going to show that just because their village was young it didn't mean it was weak.

It was then that a fight broke out, Kabuto got into a fighting stance as the leader of the Sound team a boy named Dosu, ran forward and took a swing. It had looked like the bandaged boy had missed but Kabuto's glasses broke and the older boy fell to his knees sick to his stomach. Before anything else could be done, Naruto was there with his sword drawn at Dosu. The other two Sound members made to move but both Sakura and Sasuke went to block them as well.

The entire room tensed up as genins from all over started to get ready for a brawl. All the pent up energy that had been building up in the room was about to explode.

Thankfully before the first ever chunin battle royal in history, the doors flew open as a large powerfully built man with a commanding presence entered. He wore a trench coat and his face was covered in scares.

"That's enough!" He commanded. "Everyone get into your assigned seats within three minutes or I'll fail any of you that aren't seated!"

"Oh crap," Naruto muttered as he saw Ibiki.

"Friend of yours?" Sasuke asked dryly.

"One of my dad's poker buddies," Naruto told them as they started to move towards their seats. "He's in charge of the Torture and Interrogation Department. He's kind of creepy and likes to play mind games."

"Is that so Hatake?" Came the deep voice as Naruto froze in place.

He nervously looked over his shoulder at Ibiki who was standing behind him. "I suggest you get to your seat before I fail you, you got that?"

Naruto quickly nodded and ran off to find his seat. Ibiki grinned, maybe this first exam would be a bit more fun then he thought it would be.

Naruto couldn't believe his luck when he sat down in his assigned seat, to find Hinata of all people right next to him. To him that was a good omen as he gave her a little wink, he smiled seeing her blush shyly; he loved it when she looked like that. She just looked so cute and he wondered if there was any way for them to sneak off to a closet. But then Ibiki told them to shut up and the rules of the first part of the exam. Just when things were looking up, Naruto heard what the first part was.

It was a damn written test of all things, the bane of his existence in school. Naruto silently screamed in his head, he had never been good with tests. Even his dad had once said that he was great at the practical stuff, but with this kind of thing he just sucked.

Never let it be said that Kakashi Hatake never mixed words, he said what he thought without pulling any punches.

Naruto looked at the sheet and his eyes glazed over at the questions. Sure he hadn't been that good with his studies and needed help at times but looking at the sheet he was sure they never covered this stuff in school.

The first question alone read as 'if target A is 15ft away, traveling at a speed of 5mph due East. You have a kunai of a weight of 1 pound and you have a throwing arm of 70mph, wind velocity is coming from the West at 4 knots. At what point from the center of axis between Target A and yourself, do you throw your kunai?'

Naruto just sat there his mind totally blank, he was in big trouble and he knew it. That was just the first question and already he just felt his confidence dwindle to nearly nothing. He was so dead and he knew it. He felt a slight nudge from Hinata who had filled out a few of the answers already; he was surprised to see her Byakugan activated. She was cheating and apparently with how easy it was to look at her paper, she was giving him an easy way to cheat as well.

He wasn't sure if he should when he noticed something else, everyone seemed to be cheating. Well, except Sakura, she was the only one that actually didn't need to cheat as she was smart enough to actually know this stuff. With that he suddenly got the idea behind the whole test, he knew that Ibiki liked to play mind games, was that what all this was?

'_Well, look underneath the underneath like dad says,'_ Naruto thought.

**-Outside-**

Across the building waiting on the rooftops was Anko, she had her little surprise there just waiting for her grand entrance. Although she never was one for waiting and she was getting very bored. She leaned forward against the waist high wall just looking through the windows at the genins. She could see a few being thrown out for being too obvious in their cheating. Honestly, if a ninja couldn't learn to cheat well they would be better off as genins.

"Man I wish I brought myself some dango at least," Anko sighed.

"Ask and you shall receive."

Anko quickly turned around as instincts kicked in, she didn't like having people sneak up on her and she lashed out without thinking. Thankfully the person caught her wrist and pulled her up against his body.

"Now is that any way to greet me?" Kakashi asked her amused.

"You ass, you knew what would happen if you snuck up on me," she wanted to be angry but she couldn't totally be angry with him. Although she did hate the fact that he could sneak up on her, barely anyone could do that as it was. Then she noticed that with his free hand he lifted up a few sticks of her favourite type of dango.

"Ooooh, gimmie!" She reached out but he pulled his arm back just out of reach. "Hey!"

"I think that being the good boyfriend that I am, I should get a reward for this don't you?" Kakashi smirked.

Anko grinned and with her free hand pulled down his mask to give him a long sensual kiss. She had to admit there were some very good up sides to being in a relationship. She liked the way Kakashi tasted and although you never knew it, he put a lot of passion into these kinds of moments. The man he looks and he could sure damn well kiss. But she wasn't going to be out done by him, she slipped her tongue through his lips pulled herself up against him even hard.

By the time they pulled away both needed some air and both felt like they wanted more of each other as well. There was surprisingly a lot of passion in their relationship, maybe it was all that repressed emotions and never letting it out before. It cold also be from that fact that they had never been comfortable enough with another person to open up like this. Whatever the reason their relationship burned like a fire within them.

Kakashi smiled as he pulled up his mask, "Well that's a good reward all right."

"It better be," Anko smirked as he released her wrist and she took a step back, and took the dango sticks in her other hand to her mouth.

Kakashi blinked and looked at the hand that was supposed to have held the snacks and then gave a small laugh. She had used the kiss as a distraction to take them from him cleaver and he would remember that. He looked at the bundle by her and looked at it confused.

"Do I even want to know what you have planned with that?" He pointed at it.

She smiled at him, "Just my way of making a big entrance."

Kakashi sighed, "Always have to make an impression don't you?"

Anko laughed at that and nodded, "Oh yeah you know it."

"I do," Kakashi said as he got closer to her. "I think I still have a few 'impression' your nails did on my back a few nights ago."

"Awww, want me to kiss them and make them better?" Anko teased taking another bite of the snacks. Although to her it was his own damn fault, if he didn't want her to leave marks then he shouldn't get her so worked up in bed. Although she remembered a few marks he left as well and was thankful her clothing covered those areas up.

"Maybe later," Kakashi said and then looked at the windows. "so how are they doing?"

"Not sure," Anko said. "I can only see like a third of the damn room but I think your brat is still in the running."

"Oh I know," Kakashi said happily. "He's my son after all and I trust his team to do well."

Anko had to admit that Kakashi made a good father at times, he was so confident in Naruto and his team that she kind of wished she had that before Orochimaru. But she learned that you can't change the past just live with it and go on. And she had moved on, she was a special jonin now, had good friends, and was finally in a healthy stable relationship. Yeah, so far life was good and she felt like things were going well.

As she finished the last of her snacks she leaned next with Kakashi as they watched the kids. She wasn't the type to be all girly but with no one around she could drop her guard a little. She leaned her head against his shoulder and she wasn't surprised when he gently placed an arm around her. She gave a small sigh of contentment, for some reason just being held by him like this felt nice.

After about five minutes though it was getting a bit boring just standing there waiting.

"God, how much longer is Ibiki going to drag this out?" Anko muttered.

"Getting bored?"

"Hell yeah."

"Hmmm, okay then how about…" Kakashi trailed off as his arm went down slowly caressing her back along the spine. He gently started to make small circle patters in her lower back for a bit. "We pass the time in a more pleasurable way?"

His hand then reached her ass and she suddenly didn't feel so bored at the moment.

**-Chunin Test Room-**

Naruto couldn't believe that after everything it had all been a set up. After he got the answers from Hinata and waited for the clock to end the test but before the end that scared bastard pulled a fast one on them. He should have known that Ibiki wasn't through with them yet, so he made up that so called "tenth" question. A question that if they took and failed they were supposed to stay as genin forever and the other option was to leave but your entire team would go as well.

A few took the leaving option but Naruto didn't want to back down, there was no way in hell he was going to quit now. He saw that Hinata looked a little nervous and gently took her hand in his, she gave him a small smile and he felt her grip his hand a bit harder. He gave a quick nod to his teammates and they waited. But it turns out it was just another mind game, the way to 'answer' the question was to just simply stay in the room.

Naruto felt relieved and also pissed off at this. Of course he forgot it as soon as Ibiki took off that bandana of his and went on some kind of speech about information. He honestly wasn't really paying attention as he tried not to stare. Ibiki liked to show those off during the really high stakes games to put everyone off their game. He had done it to Naruto a few times and he really hated it when the man did it.

After his speech he said the next person to take over the exam would show up.

So they waited, and after twenty minutes even Ibiki was checking the clock.

"She's not normally this late," Ibiki muttered to himself.

Finally the window crashed open and a giant poster with the words 'Anko Mitarashi, Proctor for Part Two!' on it. Naruto groaned, he should have known that he would run into someone else he knew from his father. To have his 'crazy aunt/his dad's girlfriend' in charge he was sure she would try and pull some kind of jokes on him.

"You're late," Ibiki said to her. "What, did you do run here?"

He noticed how her hair was slightly unkempt and how her clothing was a bit ruffled. She also seemed a little flushed as well. Anko nearly sweat dropped as she scratched the back of her head.

"Uh, well, this thing took more time to set up than I thought so I had to run to get here." Anko said hoping everyone believed the lie. Then she noticed one of the boys was looking at her strangely, she remembered him as one of Naruto's friends.

"You got something to say?" Anko asked.

Kiba smirked as he and Akamaru could smell more than just sweat on her. "Nothing but was the running before or after you met Naruto's dad?"

Anko tensed up as she suddenly cursed in her mind, she had forgotten what clan that boy had come from. That damn Inuzuka nose of his must have smelt the sex on her as well as Kakashi.

Naruto blinked at few times as he thought about what Kiba said and how he was trying not to laugh. Then he looked at Anko and suddenly it all hit him.

"Ahhhh! I didn't need to know that!" He shouted grabbing his head and slamming his face onto the desk. Kiba burst out laughing as Anko made a mental note to torture Kiba later on for this, no one made a fool out of her and got away with it.

"This is going to be a long exam," Ibiki sighed palming his face with his hand.

**Next up Chapter 47: Into the Forest **

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**Warning major spoiler from Naruto Manga.**

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**AN: Well looks like Hinata finally confessed her feelings to Naruto in the manga, then she was killed by Pain a second later. Although Hinata/Naruto wasn't my fav pairing I did like her character but then I wasn't surprised by Hinata's fate when I saw her jump into the battle. Guess this means all the people hoping for Hinata/Naruto to be canon lost out on this. Oh well, I was more of a Naruto/Sakura fan anyway, but still sad they apparently killed her off I really did like her.**


	47. Into the Forest

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 47: Into the Forest **

Naruto was mainly bored at the moment; everyone that had made it was led to some giant forested area that was fenced off. He had heard of the Forest of Death but this was the first time seeing it. Okay, sure he was a bit intimidated by it all and he heard the stories about all the dangerous things in there. Then again, it had been Anko to tell those stories so he wasn't sure how much was true and how much she was just trying to freak him out. At any rate he was still trying to burn out the image in his mind thanks to Kiba.

Sakura nudged him, "Are you paying attention?" she whispered.

"Oh, yeah of course," he grinned at her. Then he noticed the look she was giving him. "Hey, is this the face of a lair?"

Sakura scowled at the masked boy, wondering if Naruto even remembered that he wore a mask all the time.

Anko went into about how dangerous the forest was and the whole set up for this part of the exam. How one team had one scroll and you needed two scrolls but not just any two. You needed one Heave and one Earth scroll. So the point was for the teams to basically life off the forest for three days, while fending off the other teams and beating the hell of the others to steal the other one they would need. After that, they were to go to the tower in the center of the forest, but only after three days would they be allowed in.

"Wait, even though we get both we have to wait at least three whole days? What kind of stupid rule is that?" Kiba asked himself.

He suddenly found a kunai up against his throat and looked to see the maniacal smile of Anko next to him. "Well if it isn't the whistle blower, you really can't keep that big mouth of yours shut, huh dog boy? Now I want you to behave because I'm not above neutering you."

"Do we understand now?"

Kiba gulped and nodded.

"Good," she said pulling the weapon back and walking off. She wasn't sure if that made things even but it was a start at least.

After that, things went a bit more smoothly. Each team was assigned a gate to enter as well as a scroll. Sakura was picked to carry the scroll for the team as she was dependable for it. After that Naruto wanted to speak to Hinata one last time but her team had already left for their gate.

He found her and her team just as they were getting ready to depart for their own gate.

"Hey Hinata-chan wait up!" Naruto called out as he approached his girlfriend. "Hey I wanted to see you off before we started."

Hinata smiled as her cheeks grew red, "T-thank you Naruto-kun. Good luck when you're out there."

"Ah I don't need luck, I got cool skills," Naruto smirked proudly as he jerked his thumb towards his chest.

"It is best not to underestimate the other teams," Shino said to him. "Although many are from this village, the ones who are not your friends will hardly pull their punches. Plus the others from villages other than our own surely will not hold back."

Naruto sighed, "You really know how to depress a guy you know that?"

Kiba could only grin at the masked boy's response. "Yeah and don't count us out either, I bet you we'll get to the tower before you."

"Oh yeah? So what's the bet going to be?" Naruto grinned. Normally he had great luck with bets so he figured he would try to see what Kiba had in mind.

The taller boy blushed a bit as he leaned down to whisper something into his ear. Naruto blinked in surprise but he gave a small perverted giggle much like his dad. He had to admit that Kiba had good tastes at least.

"Alright I think I can work something out," he told him. Then he thought about what he would like for Kiba to do. It was too bad that he was dating Hinata, a part of him wondered if he could have gotten Kiba to get a naked picture of his older sister. He had to admit that she had grown since he first met her. He even once managed to dare him to steal a pair of her panties once, a year ago when they were playing a daring game. Kiba got caught and boy his sister and mother were scary when mad.

He also realized he needed to get Kiba back for putting that damn mental image of his father and Anko in his mind and for the betting. He suddenly got a very nasty image in his mind. "Okay if I win, then you have to put on a dog collar and Aunt Anko gets to take you for a 'walk' around the block, on a leash."

Naruto figured that Anko would love the idea and would love to get in her own revenge with him.

Kiba paled at the thought but honestly it was worth it. "Fine but you better believe that I'm not going to lose this bet!"

Naruto then looked at Hinata and gave her a warm look, "Take care of Hinata-chan too because if anything happens to her then you'll answer to me. Got it you guys?"

"She is our team mate," Shino said calmly to him. "We will always look out for one another."

"Yeah you can trust us," Kiba nodded.

Naruto nodded to them both and hugged Hinata, she was surprised by the public display of affection but she soon gave a small sigh as she hugged him back. She then felt a small kiss on her neck making her face turn bright red. "I'll miss you Hime-chan."

It was the first time he had used a pet name for her, and she kind of liked being called 'princess' at least by him. He said it in a way that was filled with warm emotion as well. She felt like she could float and for a moment was wondering why she was seeing the sky before she blacked out again.

"Huh, Hinata!?" Naruto shouted out in surprise holding his once again unconscious girlfriend.

"Ah damn it, did you have to take it so far?" Kiba said a bit frustrated at this. After seeing this for years both Kiba and Shino carried an ample supply of smelling salts. He gently took Hinata from Naruto as Shino dug into his pockets for the small vile he carried.

"Oh man, I really hope she gets over the fainting thing," Naruto scratched the back of his head. The blushing was cute but one of these days he felt her fainting was going to land him in trouble one day.

"Just get going," Kiba sighed as Shino started to apply the smelling salts. "I bet your team is looking for you and we need to hurry and get to our gate."

After apologising again he ran off to find Sakura and Sasuke, he managed to find them as they had been waiting for him to show up. By the annoyed looks he had been gone a little too long so he gave an excuse about being lost on the path of life. He had thought it was funny but apparently they just gave him a twin set of death glares that shut him up after it. They were silently making their way to their gate at that moment when they were stopped just short of reaching it.

"Hey you three," a voice called out to Team 7.

The three genins turned to see another genin team walking towards them they noticed the Mist headbands they were wearing. They seemed to have singled out Team 7 for some reason. There was a girl, with two boys like their own team.

The girl had on bandages over her body for some reason with long dark hair dressed in all in white with cargo pants and a shirt with the sleeves cut off. The other boy was a bit taller than either of them, wearing goggles on his eyes. He had strong features and looked like he would be a huge man one day. It was the last one was the one that had yelled at them. He had dark brown spiky hair and piercing blue eyes, thin face with sharp features. He looked like the leader of the group as he stood between the others. He carried a thick sword on his back almost like a miniature version of the sword that Zabuza used only without any holes in it.

"You are the team that supposedly killed the traitor Zabuza Motochi?" The leader asked them.

"Who wants to know?" Sasuke asked giving him a level glare.

The lead boy cast a glare at Sasuke for a different reason, "The last of the Uchiha right? It's a pity that you're kind wasn't wiped out."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Sasuke demanded.

"Bloodlines are an abomination in this world that's what." The other boy stated. "We took care of those mistakes in our country."

It was then that Naruto remembered the story that Haku told him, about how everyone in the Land of Water who had any bloodline was hunted down and killed. How Haku's mother had one and kept it secret. When Haku's father found out that Haku and his mother had a bloodline all this time, he had killed his own wife and would have killed his own son as well. Naruto knew the story but he had never seen such blind hatred for something just because of what they could do.

"What the hell is you're problem?" Naruto said angrily to them. "Just because someone has a bloodline doesn't mean you have a right to kill them!"

"Well then we'll see about that in the exam," the lead boy smirked at Sasuke then he turned to Naruto and talked to him. "I am Gendo Kaji of the Mist, and these are my team mates, Ami," The girl nodded her head. "And Akuma." The taller of the boys nodded.

"Yeah, we're the guys so what do you want from us?" Naruto asked Gendo angrily.

Gendo fixed Naruto with a praising look and after a moment gave a small grunt. "To think that one of the great Seven Swordsmen could have been defeated by a weak team. I suppose the traitor was too weak to have died honourably back in Mist."

"Well the man was a coward," Ami snickered. "He tried to kill the Mizukage and when he failed he ran like a scared little dog that he was, it was only a matter of time he would be hunted down and killed like any rabid animal."

Naruto clenched his fists in anger, although Zabuza was still very much alive he didn't like the way these people were talking about him.

"When I heard you were the team that killed him I had to see for myself," Gendo said looking over team 7. "And to my surprise I find a weak looking pink haired girl, the last of a cursed bloodline, and a loud mouth fool. If this is the team that was responsible then I weep for our hunting nins. To think they were beat out of their prize by this."

Asuma gave a small laugh, "Then I guess we'll prove our worth when we beat them."

Gendo nodded, "If we beat the team that was killed him, then it would prove us very strong and would most likely earn us that promotion. So I hope we run into each other in the forest then, because we will see you sooner or later and we'll kill you to prove our strength."

With that the three members left the Leaf genins as they went to their own gate.

"What was that all about?" Sakura asked them.

"Sounds like we made ourselves targets by 'killing' Zabuza," Sasuke said glaring at the Mist genins. "I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of the reasons they chose to enter this exam this year. At any rate we should be careful, they'll come after us."

Sakura sighed, "Great as if we don't have enough to worry about."

**-Konoha-**

Kakashi was walking down the street whistling to himself after all things were going great. His team had made it to the second part of the exam with no problems. Now he had three days to kill before he showed up at the tower to wait for his team. Although he was a bit worried, after all his son was in this, but he trusted them. The other reason he was in such a good mood was simple, how else does a guy feel when they screw their girlfriend so well they leave nail tracks in his back. He had to make a quick stop at his place to make sure she hadn't drawn blood, she really kept her nails sharp but for some reason the scratching he didn't mind.

It had been surprising how far things went on the roof, he only meant to make out with her but then things just sort of led further, not that he was complaining. Although he did have to cover her mouth when she got a bit too noisy, it had been one hell of a thrill. Sex out in the open, it sure got the blood pumping.

It was then that he had a surprising person show up again in his life. Kakashi noticed a very familiar man leaning against a wall. It was none other than Jiraiya himself, and he looked up at Kakashi as he arrived and nodded to the man.

"Hey there Kakashi, you mind spending time with an old man for a bit?" He asked with a smile.

Although Kakashi was to meet up with Anko later, he could afford some time. "Sure thing."

The two fell into step with another as they walked through the village. Jiraiya had been looking for Kakashi for awhile now, he had a few things to talk about and that was mainly about Naruto. But that could wait for a moment after all there were a few things he wanted to talk about. He grinned as he noticed how happy Kakashi was and his 'pervert-sense' was tingling.

"So, whose the lucky lady?" Jiraiya smirked at the taller man.

Kakashi was a little surprised by it, but then he remembered that Jiraiya was Konoha's spy master for a reason. "Things have developed since the last time you were here."

"Oh?" Jiraiya grinned. "Got you a lady friend huh? Don't supposed you could give me some details?"

"If I did then Anko would kill us both if she finds out you put her into one of your books," he told him.

"Anko...you don't mean that girl that was Orochimaru's old student?" He asked him and Kakashi nodded. "Huh, hope she's doing well, I think I saw her at the boy's birthday party once when he was a younger. How is the boy doing?"

"I think you'd be surprised by him," Kakashi said. "He's coming along very good, he's learning wind nature manipulation at the moment. He's still working on a couple of the jutsus but given his age that's pretty good. He's also found himself a little girlfriend as well."

Now Jiraiya was very proud of his godson, given his job he couldn't be in Konoha for long periods of time but he made an exception now and then. With the chunin exams he wanted to see how Naruto would do, plus if the boy was anything like Minato then maybe he could give the boy some training as well. He had already met the boy at the hot springs with that other little kid and he had a liking for the boy. But to hear that the boy already had himself a girlfriend was just the icing on the cake.

"Oh, so who is it?"

"Hinata Hyuga," Kakashi smirked.

Jiraiya thought about it as it clicked in his mind. "You mean the little girl you said that's been following your son around for years, the heir to the Hyuga clan? Well I have to say the boy knows how to pick them. I can already see a story in this, the Princess and the Warrior."

Already his mind was thinking of the plot and all kinds of fun he could have with that. Maybe have the boy and princess sneaking off for secret midnight meetings, battling for her honor and love, the story had potential. He'd have to see if he could spy on the boy and his little girlfriend the next time he had the chance.

"So is all you're here for is a little check up on Naruto?" Kakashi asked the old spy.

"Partly," Jiraiya said as he cast a quick look around. "Mainly I've been on the trail of a certain snake and my sources tell me he's been on the move lately. I can't find anything concrete but a lot of the rumours have been going around. Plus a few other things have been bothering me, like this new Sound village. For being one of the smaller nations it's had an unusual growth. No one knows where the village is either but from what I can tell its forces are starting to rival the larger villages."

Kakashi looked surprised at that, normally the smaller villages didn't have a large supply of forces. Since most jobs went to the larger ones the smaller ones had to limit their numbers, too many people without enough income led to ruin quickly. But to have such a large number didn't make sense for Sound. They would need a large number of resources, plus how rich was their village to afford this.

Plus where did they get to many ninja in such a short time. The only thing he could think of was that they had to take in rogue or missing ninja from other villages. That was a dangerous practice as you not only made yourself a target and enemy but also how could you trust and/or control such people?

"I see you're beginning to see what I'm seeing," Jiraiya said his face more serious now. "Things don't add up. I heard they have a team here so that's one of the reasons I'm here, to see what kind of ninja they have. Plus there's a rumour one of my old teammates is in the area as well."

Kakashi knew that there were only two people, and he would have just said Tsunade if he meant her. So that left only Orochimaru. That could mean trouble for this village if that man was around.

"Things are never easy are they?" Kakashi sighed.

"No but then that's the life of a ninja isn't it?" Jiraiya asked.

**-Forest of Death-**

It had been two days and already Team 7 was wishing for the final day to get there. For the past couple of days they had been scouting the forest, they made sure to stick to the trees and to keep hidden. They also avoided any other teams if they could.

It wouldn't do them any good to wear themselves out in the first couple of days. So they lived like shadows and always alert, they slept in shifts, ate what they could find in the forest and always made sure to never leave the team for long periods of time. They also tried to keep the noise down which was driving Naruto nuts. He hated the quiet but he knew better than to give their position away.

They had found a few teams, some looked beaten up and limping back to the gate. Most likely they had lost their scroll and were too injured to continue on.

Little did they know that they were being stalked almost the entire time, one figure was watching the team from the shadows. The figure moved silently waiting for the right moment to start the testing.

"Oh Sasuke, how much of your brother do you resemble I wonder?" the figured grinned in the trees. "Can you hold a candle to Itachi's powers? Will you interest me enough or will you disappoint me? Well the first thing I'll have to do is break you all up and see if I can get you alone. The others don't matter but I hope you've enjoyed your life so far, because by the end of this day your life, if you survive, will never be the same again."

-**Outside Forest of Death-**

Anko was taking a nice long break after all she wasn't really needed to enforce any rules (given there weren't many rules to break in the first place). Plus if any team couldn't make it, she had a few chunins and a medical team on standby if they were needed. She was just to ensure the test ran smoothly and explain the rules. So that left her ample time to relax and just wait for reports to come in, then she could give her orders.

Plus it also left her some free time to spend with Kakashi as well, which was really nice. Normally their schedules didn't allow for lots of free time together. But now with his team in the exam and her running it, it left for a lot of free time. At the moment Kakashi was laying with his back to a tree with her snuggled in front of him, and a plate of dango on her lap. At the moment life was good, as she relaxed with him.

It was nice just sitting here, not really having a care in the world together, his arms wrapped around her waist which his chin resting on her shoulder. She used to scoff at people in relationships, how they acted in public, how they talked about the person they said they were in love with and all of that. She never once thought she could ever find a decent guy anyway. After all she had been the apprentice to one of Konoha's greatest traitors, it had taken a lot of time for people to start to trust her, but the old stigma was still there at times.

But Kakashi didn't care about her past, only about her and it gave her such a warm feeling in her stomach. She smiled as she thought she would never get into a relationship but here she was. If someone a year ago told her this, she wouldn't have believed them. Hell she had most likely thought she would die in some mission before she found someone, but it seemed that the train wreck that was her life was finally giving her a decent break.

Kakashi sat there with her in his arms as she silently ate the dango he bought for her. He could smell her scent, that husky smell of earth with a sweet smell in the background. He just held her close feeling her body against his. It had been a very long time since he felt he could open up to anyone. After Obito's death he had taken it pretty hard, then when Rin was lost and presumed dead it didn't get any better. Finally when Minato died Kakashi felt the world was going dark. But there had been that one bright moment as he took Naruto in. Naruto had been the light in his darkest hour of his life, when Kakashi had no one left.

Naruto had been the one happy point in his life for years now, over time he had started to open up again thanks to what it meant being a father. It was strange how young Kakashi was and yet Naruto was growing up fast. In a few more years Naruto would be a full blown teenager and soon after that would most likely move out and start his own life. It was actually kind of depressing for Kakashi to think of the house without Naruto in it. It would seem too quiet and it was Naruto in the first place that made Kakashi retake the old family home. If he hadn't had Naruto he most likely would have sold it years ago and just lived in an apartment.

But even though he had started to make new friends and new bonds, the one he was reforging with Anko was different. At first they became friends, now they were becoming something more. He felt like that first day he held Naruto in his arms, like he had found that small light in the darkness again. Only this time it was a different type of light and he was eager to explore and see where it took them.

Unfortunately their perfect afternoon was interrupted by a trio of chunins that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Anko-san," the lead chunin said nearly out of breath. "We have a problem!"

Anko sighed as he pushed herself out of Kakashi's arms all she thought was that this had better be good to get her from her two most favourite things in the world.

"Well spit it out." She told him standing up and brushing off her coat.

"We found three bodies near the Forest of Death, they've been dead for a few days which is why we were able to find them." The chunin explained. "They were in a small ditch covered by a genjutsu but one of the patrols was walking by and noticed the smell. It was then that the genjutsu was noticed and dispelled and the bodies found."

Anko knitted her eyebrows together, it sounded like a strange way of disposing of a body. Normally a fire jutsu would work but that caused smoke, plus an earth one would cause tremors that could be felt and heard. This was an easy way of disposing of the bodies and also said that whoever killed them didn't care if they were found eventually. Just as long as the bodies weren't found too soon.

"Is that all?" Kakashi asked as he was curious as well.

"It's not, the faces of all the murder victims were…well…it looks like they were peeled off…"

Both Kakashi and Anko looked surprised at that, but more so with Anko. She knew of a technique that used that but it couldn't be the one she was thinking of, because if it was then they were all in a lot of trouble.

"Take me to them, now." Anko told the three.

The five of them hurried to where the bodies had been found, they hadn't been moved just yet as a medical team would be arriving later to pick up the bodies. Anko looked over the forms, they were ninja but they weren't from this village. She saw the headband of the Grass ninja on them and at first she thought a team had taken them out before the testing. But she could have sworn that she saw the Grass team taking their places by a gate. And she was certain that Grass only sent one team this year anyway.

Looking at the faceless bodies she took a closer look at how the flesh had been removed. It had been surgically removed by the looks of it, it was perfectly done. It was then that she noticed another thing, she knew this technique. It was unmistakable as only one man in the world could have the skills and knowledge to do something like this, and it also meant she knew why the faces were taken.

"You three!" Anko shouted at the chunin. "We have imposters in the Forest of Death, get any available ANBU units in there and then get the Hokage. Tell him about the bodies and then tell him that…that I think '_he_' has finally returned home."

"He?" one of them asked.

"Just do it now!" Anko yelled and the three chunins were already off. Anko wasted no time in running towards the forest. She was so focused that she didn't even noticed Kakashi was running along side her until he spoke.

"Anko, what's going on?" He asked her. He was a bit worried as he had never, not once seen her like this.

It took a moment for her to be able to form the words. "He's back Kakashi, Orochimaru has come back to the village and he's in the Forest with all the genin."

Kakashi's one visible eye widened, everyone knew who Orochimaru was of course. The inhuman crimes that man did were unspeakable, Kakashi even knew one of Orochimaru's test subjects while in ANBU. The man had been infused the DNA of the First Hokage, although that was kept secret for many reasons. The fact that Orochimaru was here was bad enough, but the fact that he was in the forest with the genins was even worse. Who knew what that man was up to but it was obvious the genin teams were in trouble.

His mind went to his son and his team and he hadn't felt panic like this in a long time. It had been so long since he had to really worry about Naruto's safety, not since he was a young chid with all those 'accidents' that happened, and the one assassination attempt that Gai stopped. His eye became hard as he raced with Anko into the forest. If Orochimaru even came near his team he would do everything in his power to kill the man, even if he knew he would most likely die in the process.

"Then let's hurry and find him," Kakashi eventually said to her. Anko didn't say anything as she just nodded her head. Sure she would have liked to face Orochimaru alone and kick his ass, but honestly she felt better with Kakashi with her. She knew he was a more powerful fighter than her, and she would need him to face her old teacher.

'_Orochimaru, I don't know what you're up to but I swear today is the day I'll make you pay for everything,'_ Anko thought to herself.

**Next up Chapter 48: Snake in the Grass**


	48. Snake in the Grass

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 48: Snake in the Grass**

The grunt and the sound of a leaf genin hitting the ground was heard as the last member of the team fell unconscious. Standing around them was Team 7 as they started to search through the other genin team's stuff.

"Man I feel a little bad roughing them up," Naruto said as he looked through the older boy's pockets. "I mean I know it's every team for themselves but still they're from our village."

"Yeah I know what you mean," Sakura said looking through the pouch on the girl she knocked out. "But still they were the ones that tired to ambush us. Anyone even know who they are?"

"No," Sasuke said not finding the scroll on his opponent. "I think they're a couple of years ahead of us."

"Ha, they're older and yet we still kicked their asses," Naruto smirked as he found a scroll. He took a careful look at it and jumped up for joy. "Alright they had one we needed!"

"You sure it's the real one this time?" Sasuke said as Naruto froze at that moment. Yesterday when they fought a team, Naruto said he got the scroll. Turns out it had been a dummy one with a genjutsu on it, and given Naruto's horrible ability with genjutsu they hadn't figured it out until Sakura took a look at it. By then the other team had long since gone.

"I...think so," Naruto said taking a look at it.

Sasuke sighed, "Sakura."

"On it," She said as she took the scroll and gave it a decent look. "Huh, it's real this time. Good job now we just have to wait out a day and we can make our way to the tower."

"So why can't we just camp out near the tower?" Naruto asked as they left the genin team behind them.

"Because how many other teams do you think would have thought up to stake out that area?" Sasuke said to his friend. "It's better to just wait it out and then make a rush for the tower avoiding everyone else."

"Oh, okay that makes sense to me," the masked boy said as they continued on.

They went on not even aware that they were being followed the entire time. It was starting to get dark when they decided to make camp for the night. They found a decent area where they could sleep inside of a hollowed out part of one of the old giant trees.

"Hey guys I need to go take a leak," Naruto said.

"Jeez could you at least say it a better way than that?" Sakura asked him.

He just shrugged smirking under his mask as he went off to find a place to relieve himself. He didn't want to get too far away because he might get lost or even ambushed. He went behind a few large trees a decent length from their camp. Even though he couldn't go too far he also had to make sure he wasn't too close. If there were any trackers like Kiba out there, then they could find them a lot more easily that way.

He found a decent place and unzipped as he relived himself on a rock. Actually he found it was a very weird looking rock now that he started looking at it. Sure it looked hard like rock but it was kind of a strange color and the surface looked odd too. Then suddenly a piece of the 'rock' lifted up to reveal an eye looking at him. Naruto's eyes widened because he knew that kind of eye but it didn't process until what he thought had been a rock he was peeing on, lifted up into the air.

"Oh crap!" Naruto yelled out as he jumped out of the way of the giant snake striking. "What the hell, if this is because of the crazy snake lady I'll get her back! She never said anything about giant snakes!"

Naruto was focused on trying to keep ahead of the giant snake; thankfully he had plenty of practice avoiding snakes with Anko. Although he had never had to deal with one this big before and it was a challenge to keep ahead of it.

'_Man what the hell is going on!? I mean this is insane, crap and on top of that I think I got turned around. I can't tell where camp is. Well with all the noise this guy is making the others should have no problem finding me'_

The huge snake crashed through a tree just to get at Naruto and he was wishing he hadn't peed on its face to get it this mad. Naruto had to doge this thing and still trying to get his fly up, he took to the tree branches and finally he managed to get his clothing in line.

"Yes! Alright now you freak I can concentrate on-" Naruto was caught off. When he had been distracted by finally getting his pants right he had lost track of the snake for a bit. It had gone under the branch and came up under him, with its massive jaws it swallowed Naruto whole and the branch he had been on.

Meanwhile back at Team 7's camp the two genin heard the noise in the forest.

"What the hell is going on out there?" Sasuke wondered out loud. It sounded like huge no holds bar brawl was going on in the forest nearby.

"Do you think Naruto is okay?" Sakura asked her teammate. "I mean didn't he go off in that direction?"

Sasuke sighed as he realised that she was right, and knowing Naruto's ability for attracting trouble he wouldn't be surprised if he was in the middle of all of this. "We better go and save the idiot before he gets hurt."

Sakura nodded as they leapt up to the tree tops and traveled among the branches. It wasn't too hard to figure out where to go with the amount of noise that was being made. But then it suddenly stopped and Sakura was getting worried. They only made it a few yards when suddenly a kunai was thrown into their path as they had to avoid it. Both of them looked to see a tall female with a Grass symbol on her forehead protector.

"Out of our way," Sasuke said annoyed. "We don't have time to play with you."

"Oh but I think you do now," She said in a smirk on her face. "My little pet seems to have caught that mouse of a teammate of yours, so there is no reason for you to hurry."

"What did you do to Naruto!" Sakura shouted out at her.

She only chuckled in amusement at her outburst. "Oh don't worry, I get the feeling you will join him shortly. After all it's the Uchiha that I'm here for."

"I don't know who you are but you're getting out of our way!" Sasuke said as he threw several shurikens at the Grass nin. He was surprised by how easily the other person evaded the deadly weapons, but at any rate that was just the distraction. Sakura came up on the blind side with her tonfas ready to strike, but the female was just too fast and was able to dodge Sakura's attacks.

She snapped out a kick that Anko taught her once while the older woman had been training her with her weapons. She thought that she was going to connect with it but the Grass ninja just caught it and looked at her for a split second, almost like she finally took notice of Sakura.

"Now where did you learn that little move from?" She grinned at her. "Tell me was Anko playing teacher lately?"

"You know Anko-sensei?" Sakura blurted out surprised.

"Of course, I did teach her that kick but you came in at the wrong angle. This is how it's done," with that the Grass nin gave the same kick only this time it hit Sakura.

She felt the power of the kick and was stunned for a moment, while getting up she was trying to piece together what the woman had said. It didn't make sense, as the woman looked too young to have been a teacher to Anko and she wasn't even from this village. As she watched the strange woman fighting Sasuke she couldn't help but notice a few things. A few of the moves looked like what Anko fought with, only more polished and better.

But at any rate the woman's back was to her and so Sakura threw out her kunai at her. But the woman somehow knew and dodge the weapons easily enough.

"I have to admit you two are proving to be slightly entertaining, but I'm still disappointed in you Sasuke. You, I expected better from."

"Fine then, how about this!" Sasuke made the hand seals and suddenly a flaming dragon came at the grass ninja. It was quick and fast and followed with the female ninja's movements until it consumed the other ninja. Both Sasuke and Sakura got together as they watched the chard wood of the large branches they were fighting on.

"Where's the body?" Sakura asked as she got into a fighting stance.

A chuckling sound was heard as out of the trees the figure seemed to step out. "Now that is what I'm talking about, I didn't expect you to know that jutsu. You might just be interesting after all, now let's see what else you can do."

**-Elsewhere in the Forest-**

Anko and Kakashi were trying their best to find Orochimaru and if possible to check in on the genin teams. So far they couldn't find any trace which was both good and bad. Good because they didn't find any bodies but bad because they still haven't found him.

It was then that she noticed Kakashi's head suddenly snap up a bit.

"What is it?" She knew that his sense of smell and hearing were above what a normal person had. Not as good as someone from the Inuzuka clan but it was one of the reasons she was glad he was along. If anyone could help her track down Orochimaru he could.

"I smell snake," He said and then saw her dirty look. "No not from you, but the fact I smell it means we're close plus I could have sworn I heard something too."

"Then lead the way," she told him as they increased their speed.

It didn't take them long to find the destroyed area of the forest, Anko could see the tell tale signs of a snake and not just any snake. This was a huge one, larger than just any snake that lived in this forest in fact. Only a summoned snake could be this big and she told Kakashi just as much. He didn't seem to like it as much as her.

It was then that they heard the slight noise before the attack, with years of training they were able to avoid the huge snake as it struck out at them.

"Well I would say we found our first clue," Kakashi said getting himself ready. "So since you're the expert how do we fight this?"

Before Anko could answer there were sudden bulges in the snake, even the snake's face started to show some surprise as giant popping sounds were heard and then suddenly there was a series explosions and the entire area had snake guts and pieces raining down. Both Kakashi and Anko were just so suddenly stunned by both what happened and the fact they were now covered in snake guts.

"Oh man maybe I should have just used normal shadow clones instead of the exploding ones," Naruto's voice was heard. He was the worst out of them all as you could hardly make out any other colors than red. Naruto's hears were ringing a bit from the explosions but he thought that the exploding shadow clones would be a sure fire way to get out. He hadn't thought of the after effects it would have though.

"Naruto?"

The blonde looked up to see Kakashi and Anko there, "Oh hey dad, what are you two doing here?"

Both adults were at a lose for words, here was a kid that blew up a snake from the inside and he acted like nothing had happened. Both Anko and Kakashi could feel things slipping through a few places in their clothing and would need a shower after this.

"Naruto, where is your team?" Kakashi finally asked him.

"Uh," Naruto looked around but he had no idea where he was now. "Sorry the snake moved after it ate me, but I think it might be over that way, I think."

"Well better than nothing," Kakashi sighed hoping they would arrive in time.

Meanwhile both Sakura and Sasuke were breathing hard, the battle had been totally one sided in this fight as the Grass nin was just playing with them it seemed. It was painfully apparent that this was no genin this had to be at least jonin level. But for Sasuke he was having trouble thinking of why someone of this calibre was posing as a genin, and why was she going after him personally?

It didn't matter anyway as they had to concentrate on surviving this battle.

"Well I have to thank you, it's been awhile since I've enjoyed myself like this," the strange nameless woman taunted them. "But I think it's time to see just how strong you are."

With that the person actually started to peal away part of her face, there was pale skin under it that was practically white. But it was the eyes that caught both genins attention, they were yellow and looked like a snake. They were drawn to those eyes and it felt like they were caught in the grasp of a predator. Then they felt it, a wave of killing intent unlike anything they had felt before. It was more than what they experienced with Zabuza this was far beyond that they couldn't even move. Their bodies were frozen in place from just the fear they were feeling.

Sakura had never felt anything like this before, she wanted to scream but couldn't. For Sasuke this was even worse than that day his brother killed his family.

The grass ninja laughed at this, "Too bad. I didn't really expect you to fight through this technique of mine as only the truly strong can. But maybe just once more test to see if you're worthy Sasuke." A few hand seals and suddenly there was a giant snake come into existence. "If you can force yourself to move before he attacks then it should prove all that I need. Sadly I doubt the girl will survive but he can eat her anyway, I don't need her."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw the huge animal coming at them, he was still trying to move but the fear kept his body frozen in place. It was like time was slowing down as the giant animal came down at him it opened its mouth as the beast was going to eat him and Sakura. Then there was a sound like a large number of birds.

"Chidori!"

Kakashi came out of nowhere as he slammed his original jutsu into the head of the summon animal. When a summon was injured it would go back to where it came from, but if someone was fast enough to give a lethal blow that would kill the animal. The snake had been so focused that it hadn't noticed the copy ninja until the lightning attack had rammed through its head. There was a sizzling sound at it started to fry the snake's head. The large animal thrashed around before falling to the forest floor below with a huge crash as it died.

Kakashi jumped off the head onto a branch between the two genins and the enemy, while Anko jumped in on the large branch that the other ninja was on.

"Well isn't this a surprise," the Grass ninja said seeing Anko. "I had hoped to run into each other again but I'm a little busy at the moment, although I must admit I like the new look with all the blood and gore."

"Damn you, you bastard!" Anko yelled at him ignoring the comment on her appearance. "I've been waiting to rip you apart for what you did to me!"

"Oh so it's only about you and not all the other things I've done? Well isn't that just selfish of you."

"Shut the hell up Orochimaru!" Anko yelled as she charged towards the missing ninja.

Naruto meanwhile managed to jump down to his teammates. He could see that after the snake thing was killed and Anko was taking on the weirdo they dropped to their knees.

"Guys are you two alright?" Naruto asked them, both of them seemed to be shaking.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked looking up at him and then saw how he looked. "Naruto, are you okay!?"

"Huh?"

"You're covered in blood," Sasuke managed to get out.

Naruto looked down and forgot his looks and just shrugged, "It's okay it's not mine. I got eaten by a snake and had to blow it up from the inside, that was kind of cool but I really need a shower, I think there's some guts in my pant leg."

Both of them just stared at him for a moment just trying to process what had just happened between the crazy Grass nin and Naruto's looks and his statement.

"I'm not bothering to comment," Sasuke muttered as he felt his nerves coming back to him.

"Who is that woman anyway," Sakura asked Naruto hoping he might have some answers. "She was pulling off her face."

"Dad and Aunty Anko told me that it's really Orochimaru," Naruto said. He knew all about him from Anko plus they had told him a bit more about him on their way here.

"Orochimaru, of the Sanin?" Sakura asked him. She remembered reading about the legendary Three Ninja. There wasn't much on Orochimaru only that he was criminal that left the village years ago. Although the first thought was that Orochimaru was a man not a female. Then she noticed the fighting and then it became clear.

Anko was battling her old mentor, for years she wanted this. She had thought of this moment and it was finally here. She was trying her best against him but she had never really fought him. Sparred with him when she was a young girl, but never fought in a life or death battle with him before and she was learning that there was a major difference between the two.

She cried out as she got a kick to her gut sending her into the trunk of the tree. She held her rips as the air was sent out of her lungs for a bit, she wanted to try and use this one technique that used snakes she had learned. She had never used it for the purpose that it would kill her as well as her target, a year ago she would have used that without hesitation. But things were different now, now she actually found that she actually wanted to continue on living.

She liked her life and didn't want to end it.

Orochimaru stood over her as he pulled off his face to reveal his real one. "Now I know something is off, where is the killer I helped to raise? Normally you should be trying to fight without worrying for yourself or your safety, I have to wonder what changed? I guess you were too soft anyway."

He raised his arm ready to strike her down, "I think I'll just put you out of your misery then, you always were a failure."

"Get away from her!" Kakashi yelled out at he slashed at him from behind. He had seen he was about to do something to her and he wouldn't allow it. This man had attacked his genin team, made a snake eat his son and now was trying to kill his girlfriend. Sure he knew that he didn't stand a chance against someone of that level but he also couldn't sit by and let him get away with this anymore.

Orochimaru smirked as he dodged the kunai. "Ah, well so little Anko-chan has finally found herself a man and Hatake Kakashi no less." He grinned at the man before him. "I will have to admit I didn't see that coming. I figured her hate would have eaten her up inside for all her life."

"You have no right to say anything about her or anyone after the things you've done." Kakashi said coldly as both his eyes were now focused on the man.

"Well defending your woman's honor is it?" Orochimaru chuckled at the man. "But I doubt it will matter in the end. I'm here for a purpose and you two are in my way so I guess I'll just have to deal with you both."

Orochimaru launched himself at the masked man and Kakashi just managed to get out of the way of his swing. Anko seeing an opening decided to attack from behind launching her own snake attack. A long black snake came shooting out of her coat to bite the other man. Orochimaru somehow twisted his body in a way that no human body was designed to twist while leaning back. He grabbed the snake by the neck and pulled with monstrous strength, pulling her off her feet and he swung her around into Kakashi.

Naruto saw this and was anxious to get into fighting, "Hey you creep leave them alone!"

"Naruto, no!" Kakashi said as he and Anko pulled each other apart. "Don't get involved in this I want you all to run as far away are you can!"

"What, you can't ask us to leave you behind!"

"Naruto I'm telling you as your sensei to run, this man is too powerful for you three alone!" Kakashi said to them hoping they would run. He didn't want to see them hurt, and also if he was after one of them then it wouldn't be good no matter what the reason was.

"Sorry but I can't have them running off," Orochimaru smirked as he raised both arms as a large number of snakes came shooting out of the sleeves. Both Anko and Kakashi were put onto the defensive as they had to constantly dodge the poisonous vipers. Anko had a better time as she knew what to look for in a snake, how it moved when he stalked and attacked. Kakashi stayed ahead thanks to his experience and his sharingan eye. He managed to get behind a trunk as he took a breather.

Kakashi knew that they would need to take him by surprise, Orochimaru was above their level so they would have to get in one good shot and then capitalize on it. He had a move that could work, the only problem was that it could drain him of a lot of chakra. He didn't use this move often because of that drawback but he needed to use that technique now because he wasn't sure how much longer they could keep on the defensive.

Anko had managed to get behind a trunk as well as she tried to plan out an attack of her own. She didn't get far as the bark seemed to explode next to her. She felt small bits and pieces cut against her skin but she kept on moving, only to realize too late that it had been to get her to move in that direction. Orochimaru came out from behind and she felt fangs bit he thigh.

She saw a snake had bit her thankfully from her training with Orochimaru she was immune to most of his poisons. After all handling snakes it was important to have an immunity to it in case of accidents. But she felt the numbing effect in her leg. It was a toxin but it wasn't fatal it would just slow her down and that was a bad thing in a fight with him.

She paused as she had to regain her balance but felt a vibration in the trunk she turned and threw out several shurikens at Orochimaru as he ran at her. He dodged the weapons and Anko tried to get ready for his attack. But then Kakashi jumped out in front of her.

"Kakashi! Get out of the way!" Anko yelled at him in warning but it came too late.

Orochimaru's fist hit Kakashi but there was a sudden flash as 'Kakashi' literally exploded into electricity. There was a large bright flash that blinded Anko for a few seconds but there was just a scorch march left where Kakashi and Orochimaru had been. It was then that the real Kakashi stepped out behind a tree panting as he was sweating and tired. That technique took a lot out of him and he wouldn't be able to do anything else for a bit. He leaned against the trunk of the tree to catch his breath.

"What the hell was that?" Anko asked as she limped over to him.

"Lighting clone," Kakashi said with some effort. "But don't ask me to do that again, I'm lucky to get through two a day but after using a Chidori and a few other things I don't have the energy."

Anko grinned at him, "That was a pretty badass move, maybe I can pull something like that off with fire."

"Hmm, that could be interesting," Kakashi grinned at her under his mask.

"So touching," Orochimaru's voice was heard as he appeared seemingly out of nowhere, he looked slightly chard as his arm had electrical burns on it. "I have to admit that one nearly got me."

It wasn't a joke either, when he had attacked he felt a bit of that energy in him before he was able to slip out of it. His arm felt bad and if he hadn't used a special escape jutsu of his own design he might have been greatly injured by that move. He would have to perform the Oral Rebirth jutsu when he could. That was a technique he also came up with that allowed him to 'shed' his damaged body as a refreshed one came out of his mouth, although it took some energy to regenerate the cells of his body to make that new copy.

Orochimaru's opened up as a snake came out of it and then that snake opened its mouth as a sword came out. This was The Kusanagi Sword: Long Sword of the Heavens, a legendary sword that was said to be able to cut through anything.

The sword shot out as it kept on increasing its length as it came at the two ninja. They dodge the attack as it cut the large top of the tree like it was paper. The large mass came down in a mass of destruction as braches broke in loud snaps, sending wood, splinters and leaves everywhere. A falling tree was dangerous as any woodcutter can tell you, but with the huge trees in around Konoha that was even more dangerous. Wood that size being thrown around with that kind of force could cut off limbs or impale a person.

Kakashi lost sight of Anko in the confusion as he tried to dodge as much as he could but his body was tired. He was too drained of energy from the lightning clone and with his sharingan he was running too low on chakra. He was literally running on fumes and it felt that at any second he would collapse. Kakashi shook his head as his vision blurred, he couldn't stop. There were too many lives on the line that he cared about. He had already lost everyone that meant something to him once and he wouldn't let it happen again.

Unfortunately for him he was too tired and focused on staying awake to see Orochimaru until it was too late. He felt the man's hand on his face as he was shoved back into a trunk of another tree. His body made a dent into the wood as Orochimaru slammed his head into the wood a few times until he saw a stain of blood on it. He grinned as he now had a way to get Anko out in the open, he threw the limp form of Kakashi away letting him freefall to the ground below.

As Kakashi fell off the branches towards the ground, he also slammed against a couple of the thick branches bouncing off them before being caught by Anko. She had seen him falling and couldn't let him hit, at that height it would kill him if he landed like that. So she got out of her hiding spot and went to save him.

She managed to get him onto the ground and saw that his eyes were closed and blood from his head. He had hit his head pretty bad, there was a lot of blood but that wasn't a bad thing, scalp wounds just bleed out a lot. Most likely he just had a cut and it would stop bleeding soon. But with using up all that chakra and the head injury it wasn't a good thing.

"You should have been more careful of your surroundings," Orochimaru said as he appeared behind her.

She tried to move against him but suddenly the seal on her neck flared up in pain.

"N-No not now!" Anko said through gritted teeth.

"Too bad you never embraced that power, if you had then my seal wouldn't be your weakness," Orochimaru gloated over her. "Then again it's because you lack the desire for power that you were useless to me. All that training I did to shape you into what you are was all a waste. Oh well, you were helpful in testing out my new curse mark so it wasn't all a waste."

"B-Bastard!" She managed to get out. She tried to move but her body wouldn't respond it was locked up and she hurt all over.

Then she felt a strong punch to her rips and not only felt but heard the ribs crack. She fell backwards as Orochimaru grabbed her leg and threw her face forward into the tree; she cried out in pain and slumped to the ground unmoving.

"Now then where are those children?" Orochimaru smirked.

"Wind Blade Jutsu!"

"Grand Fire Ball Jutsu!"

Orochimaru turned to see a fire jutsu coming at him but when the wind jutsu hit it, the fire moulded with the other. It looked like a giant arrow made of fire as it came at him. The missing nin jumped out of the way to look to find all three kids were still there.

"Wow, how did that happen?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Wind makes fire stronger Naruto," Sakura said to him. "So they complimented each other and kind of merged to form something new."

"Oh man, we really need to try that out later Sasuke," Naruto grinned.

"We still have a problem," Sasuke said looking at the paled faced man.

"Weren't you three supposed to run away?" Orochimaru grinned at them, this would make things so much easier now than chasing them down. Plus with all the fighting it would only take ANBU time to lock in on the location. Sure the forest was large but with all the battle damage they caused it would leave an obvious trail for trained ANBU agents.

"A man who breaks the rules is trash," Naruto said with a bit of steel in his voice. "But a man that abandons his friends is worse than trash. So what's that way about someone that abandons their family?"

"Such sentimentality," The man said with a sneer. "It's garbage like that, which is one of the reasons I can't stand this village anymore. Such weakness will only lead to pain and death, here let me show you."

With that Orochimaru picked Anko up by her neck, she was still stunned but cried out in pain. She felt a lot of pain in her upper chest, maybe a broken collar bone which being lifted up like that was one of the last things she needed. Orochimaru started to squeeze her throat cutting off her cries of pain in a choking-gagging sounds.

"Let her go!" Naruto roared at him. The others noticed something strange about Naruto just then they were feeling a killing intent from him that wasn't normal. In fact they never felt anything like it before, Sakura was shocked when she looked at him. His eyes had changed they were blood red with slits in them. Before she could process any further the dark feeling from Naruto increased causing her to freeze up. Sasuke wasn't much better whatever was coming off of Naruto was evil, which didn't make sense as Naruto was the least evil person he knew.

Sure they argued, fought and were rivals but he had grown to respect Naruto and after being put on a team with him he learned to actually like the guy in some strange way. So feeling this strange malevolent force coming off of Naruto was just too much of a shock to his system. Maybe if he had been prepared for it, but this was the first time feeling something like this-actually maybe it wasn't.

He wasn't sure but this strange feeling was familiar, for some reason a long forgotten memory of waking up in bed years ago as a small child came back to him. He felt like he had some kind of panic attack in the middle of the night. He didn't remember much only that the next day people had been nervous, this was back when his brother was still in ANBU.

Before either of the two team mates could shake off the shock of the evil killing intent coming off Naruto he moved, in fact he moved faster than ever. Naruto was nearly a blur as he came at Orochimaru but the man just stood there smiling.

'So predictable,' Orochimaru thought to himself. 'The boy's feelings are letting the demon within gaining some control. Just like that Gaara boy, but I can't let this boy as he is. He's too interesting to kill just yet, maybe I should save him for later after all 'they' will be after him soon enough and if they find out that I killed the host, they will come after me. So I'll just take him off the board for now, a counter seal should be enough.'

Orochimaru waited until Naruto was close enough and threw Anko aside as he readied his hand; his other one was too damaged to move properly so he had to time this just right. His fingers started to glow as different seal words showed on each finger. He quickly came forward under Naruto's swing and slammed his fingers into where he knew where the seal was. Naruto cried out in pain and shock as the demon's chakra was suddenly sealed off from him.

The pain was so intense that Naruto passed out.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled out as she jumped forward with her own weapons, Sasuke right behind her.

"Enough games for today," Orochimaru said to himself as he moved so fast it was like a blur to the genins. Sakura felt a hard blow to her head before hitting the ground and passing out. Sasuke looked around for the man his sword ready. But Orochimaru had fought sharingan users before, especially Itachi and he knew how best to fight them, he came up from behind as his neck extended and fangs bared he bit into Sasuke's neck. The boy howled in pain as it was like someone was pouring fire into his veins.

He let the boy fall to the ground and stood amongst the bodies grinning now it was only a matter of time before the boy would seek him out for power. He chuckled to himself as he melted into the shadows of the forest to repair the damage done to his body and to get ready for the next part of his plan.

**NEXT UP CHAPTER 49: SAKURA'S COURAGE**

**Sorry for the wait this fight scene went a little longer than I expected.**


	49. Sakura's Courage

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 49: Sakura's Courage**

The first thing Anko was aware of was pain, and this wasn't the usual kind she woke up with a sharp gasp as pain seemed to flair all over her chest. She blinked as there was nothing but darkness but soon shapes took hold. As her eyes adjusted she noticed she was in a cave, she could feel the stone against her back as she was sitting against it. Her legs were numb from being in the same position so she tried to work them but hissed feeling the pain in her chest when she tried to move her body. She tested herself out and she knew she had a few broken ribs and one of her arms was tied to her upper chest with a modified sling. She rolled a shoulder and grunted, it felt like a fractured or broken collar bone, so she wasn't going to move under her own power anytime soon.

She looked around the cave; there was a small light and heat from a small stone circle with embers in it. It gave enough heat without making too much smoke which was a good thing in such a tight area. She saw Naruto and Sasuke was laid out and next to her was Kakashi. She looked down in concern and spoke his name but there was no reaction. She bit her lip as she was worried, he looked a little pale and there was no telling what kind of internal injuries both of them had. She used her free hand to check herself and noticed a bandage wrapped around her torso. She could make out slight first aid on Kakashi as well.

Light footsteps caught her attention and she saw a tired looking Sakura walking in.

"Oh thank god you woke up," Sakura said seeing Anko was awake. "I was so worried."

"How long?" Anko hadn't realized just how dry her throat was and was thankful when Sakura noticed this and gave her some water.

"A full day at least," Sakura said sitting down. "I had to carefully drag you all here, get the supplies and also set up a perimeter."

Anko raised an eyebrow at that, she did all that by herself? It was impressive for a genin of her size to carry two adults. Although as the feeling was getting back she noticed some scrapes on her legs and guess the girl had dragged her part of the way.

"Anko-sensei?" Sakura said softly. "Was that really Orochimaru?"

Anko sighed and nodded, "Yeah it was, I just wish we could have done more to the bastard. Still have no idea what he's really here for."

"Well he said it was testing Sasuke-kun," Sakura told her about how their fight had gone and the things the man had said to them. "I also noticed something on him when I was checking out his injuries. He's got this strange mark on his neck."

Anko jolted at that making her cry out in pain, that had been a stupid move. "Tell me, does it look like a mark I have on the same area?"

Sakura went to look and she was surprised to see a mark similar to what Sasuke had. "Yes it looks almost the same, what is it?"

"A curse mark," Anko said bitterly. "It's something he made up, I don't know why he put it on me but it royally screws with me at times. Hell during that battle it went off and I couldn't move because of the pain, I know there has to be more to it but honestly I don't care. I just wish I could get rid of the damn thing."

Sakura looked worried over at Sasuke and Anko could see the girl's mind was filled with worry and possible reasons why her team mate was targeted. Anko close her eyes feeling light headed, she wanted to stay awake but at this rate she felt like she could pass out again.

"How are the others?" Anko asked trying to get her mind going.

"Naruto hasn't woken up for some reason, I don't know what happened to him but he doesn't have that mark on him."

Anko nodded, it was a good thing that mark would most likely react negatively to the demon locked inside of him.

"But Anko-sensei…something happened to Naruto," she said to him. "He gave off this…killing intent. I never felt anything like it before, it was just so evil but Naruto is like the nicest guy I know. Plus his eyes, they changed."

Anko winced and now it wasn't because of the pain, she knew how smart the girl was and if anyone could piece things together she might. "Look I can't tell you what happened, it's a secret that only he can tell you but I suggest that you drop it for now."

"But Anko-sensei!"

"No buts!" Anko said harshly to the girl. "This is important Sakura, look there are just certain things that a ninja has to learn and one of them is that you always won't be told everything. Hell that should be a general rule actually but Naruto is, well let's just say special. It's a S-class secret and leave it at that as even I can't tell you."

Sakura didn't say anything but she felt a little hurt, she had known Naruto since childhood but he was holding a secret from them. Sure everyone had their secrets but this seemed something important, so why would he not tell his team mates and closest friends? Were they not as close as she thought?

Anko sighed and wished Kakahsi was up, she could use his help with this. "How is Kakashi?"

"Stable, at least I think so," Sakura only had basic medical abilities but at the moment she wished she knew more. Everyone was hurt and she felt helpless not being able to do more for them. Hell they could be dying and she wouldn't know it until it was too late. It was this moment she realized just how useful medical knowledge could be. If she knew more she would know what to do other than just the basics.

Anko gently ran her hand through his silver hair, she ached seeing him like this. She knew that as a ninja either of them could be hurt or killed but it hadn't really registered until now. A part of her was cursing that she let herself get this close to someone. That she should have broken things off before they had gotten so serious or had never started things off. She wouldn't feel all this pain at seeing like this, and the pain thoughts of him dying on her were horrible. It felt a deep, dark aching in her chest and felt her eyes welling up with tears.

She didn't cry dammit, she never cried. But here she was starting to lose it in front of a genin. She hated showing any type of weakness.

But then another part of her couldn't stop her feelings for Kakashi, he saw past the surface and saw what was under it with her. She felt a connection with him and she felt less lonely in life ever since she got mixed up with him and Naruto. Before she had been so alone, sure she had a few friends but with them she felt like she had the closest thing to family she had. She looked over at Naruto and she even felt feelings for the boy. She liked him, he was just fun to be around and life just seemed better. The same with Kakashi, and ever since they started to date she had never felt so happy before.

But there was a double edge to forming bonds and she was feeling those now.

"Anko-sensei, will help be coming?" Sakura asked her.

Anko thought about it, "Should be. Myself and Kakashi haven't reported in so they'll be combing the woods for us. But it's a big place and they'll be looking for Orochimaru meaning they'll be taking things carefully."

There was a moment of silence before Sakura brought up something else that she had the time to think about. She had heard enough from the fight to learn a few things and she had to ask. "Anko-sensei...was it true? That he used to be your teacher?"

Anko sighed resting her head against the cold rock wall. "Yes, it was a long time ago. Back when I was around your age I think, he was my sensei. Back then no one thought he was really a monster, hell he was up for Hokage until the Fourth was picked over him. I remember him being very pissed at that, I think that's when things really started to go wrong. He was acting strange and then one day he told me we were leaving for a special training trip."

"I don't remember much else. Hell it took me years just to get this much of my memories back. He put that curse seal on me and most of my memories of him are just gone. I was wondering around a beach when Konoha ANBU found me."

Sakura didn't say anything else, she never knew plus she could see the pain and anger in the older woman when she was talking about it. She could tell that Anko had been hurt by the experience more than she might let on. So she said nothing, there really wasn't anything she could say.

Suddenly a loud crash was heard.

"Someone's tripped one of my traps," Sakura said silently.

"Made traps huh?" Anko always did like that, she was wondering if the girl picked up anything from Naruto. If she had any brains she would have, that kid was a genius with traps. Another loud sound was heard as well as a breaking sound.

"Alright that's enough!" A voice came out and Sakura recognized it was one of the Sound genin. "We know you're in there, now come out and bring out the Uchiha or we'll just start a fire and burn you out."

"Looks like they mean business," Anko winced as she tried to get up but failed again. "If they'll listen to me I can get involved and tell them to leave your team alone."

"Really?" Sakura said hopefully then noticed the serious look on Anko's face. "What's the price?"

"You're team will have to be disqualified. We can't show favouritism, if we do then that team must be taken out of the exam with no appeal no matter the circumstances. It's one of the ground rules that all the villages agreed to when the chunin exams were first created. It was to ensure fair play and that no village gave their own genins an unfair advantage."

Sakura thought about it, sure the best thing was to let them be taken out of the exam but the truth was she and her team mates wanted this. She wanted to prove to everyone and to herself that she was strong. She remembered being picked on as a child and how others came to help her she remembered how Naruto and Sasuke were always so much stronger, how she felt like she was holding them back at times.

She didn't want to be the one to cause them to come all this way only to fail. She didn't want to fail either. Despite it all she needed to prove at least to herself how strong she was that she wouldn't be bullied anymore and she could stand on her own two feet. Besides she got a feeling that even if Anko told them to leave they wouldn't. Something just told her that they were coming for them no matter what.

"I can't let you do that," Sakura said as she stood up. "If I don't come back then do what you can to save them."

Anko looked at her and gave a small laugh, "Look at you, so young and yet want to grow up so fast and be a real ninja..."

"I am a ninja," Sakura said facing the opening. "I think the first time I killed was when I took my first steps. I can't let them down and I need to face things like this, I can't just quit and leave when things get tough no matter how it seems."

Anko grinned, "Well you picked up some interesting things."

"I had good teachers," Sakura gave her a small smile before going outside.

Sakura came out to see that several of her traps had been sprung, she had spent a long time preparing the area but so far the Sound team was still standing. It was a shame she had hoped for at least one of them down.

"Where's the Uchiha?" Kin the female on the team demanded.

"Why do you want him for?" Sakura asked trying to stall for a little time as she tried to take stock of things. There were three of them, and she noticed which traps had and hadn't been tripped.

"We're here to see if he really is worthy," Dosu the one wrapped up in bandages said.

Sakura's eyes widened a bit at that. _'Are they working with Orochimaru? It can't be coincidence that he said something about testing Sasuke-kun and now they show up. But they're from the Sound village and he was disguised as a Grass female ninja. Is he disguised from someone from their village giving orders or does he work for that new village?'_

There were just too many unanswered questions, why did Orochimaru gave him that curse mark, why did he risk so much into coming back to the village, was there a link between him and the Sound or was he just using this team?

"Are you three working for Orochimaru?" she asked hoping to answer a few things.

The others shared a look and then looked at the girl. "Looks like we can't let her live no matter what if she asked that." Kin said as she came at Sakura.

Sakura's eyes widened as she prepared for a fight, it looked like the others weren't going to step in. Well that worked out well for her, she doubted she could take on all three anyway. The girl with the long brown hair came at Sakura and threw several kunai. Sakura did a simple replacement and a log took her place. Kin searched around as several versions of Sakura appeared.

"Clones? Please don't you know anything more than just simple academy crap?" Kin looked to find the real one as the clones wouldn't make a sound as they hit the ground. But none of them were hitting the ground.

"Kin what the hell are you doing she's right there!" Dosu yelled out.

Kin turned wondering what he was talking about when a metallic piece of metal hit her face. Because her head had been turned it had been a glancing shot but it still hurt as Kin jumped back. She had been hit by nothing or at least she thought it was nothing.

"Kai!" Kin yelled out as she cancelled the genjutsu that the girl had used. Apparently the whole deal had been a basic illusion she must have done it when she had did the replacement but now she could see the other girl.

Kin was pissed that she fell for that trick, so now she was going to use a trick of her own as she pulled out her special senbons needles with bells attacked to them.

'_If this girl likes genjutsu then she'll love this technique although unlike most you can't cancel out of this.'_

Kin threw several senbons with small bells attacked at Sakura's direction but never actually hitting her. For a moment Sakura was wondering if the Sound girl had missed, then she heard the ringing of the bells and suddenly the world was twisting. She was fighting to just keep her balance now as Kin came at her and slammed a punch into her face. She felt the blow being followed up by a kick and more blows, but she had so much vertigo she didn't know she hit the ground until she felt it slam into her body.

The world was still twisting as Sakura tried to desperately think of what was going on. Things were okay until the bells were ringing.

"How pathetic," Kin sneered at Sakura. "Did you honestly think you could be a ninja, I mean bright pink hair? You look too much like a girly girl to be in this."

Sakura wasn't really listening as her mind was trying to think what was going on. The sound of the bells had to be the key as this started with them. Knowing genjutsu she knew she had been in one, and the sound of the bells had to be the trigger. The only problem was that she would have to destroy the bells to use a release because the bells constantly rang they kept placing her in it. Unless she could block out the sound, a plan started to form as she just hoped she could reach inside her pouch.

"You know from an ugly girl like you I can see why you wouldn't care about looks," Sakura said to get the other girl angry and it worked. She felt a kick to her stomach as Kin gripped her by her by her short hair up.

"What did you say to me Pinky?" Kin angrily gripped her hair even harder.

Sakura winced but didn't give up. She reached into her pouch and slipped a smoke bomb out. Kin saw the explosion and felt the girl jerk away as the Sound genin jumped clear. She looked to see she had strands of the other girl's hair in her hand and threw them aside.

"That won't help you," Kin said through the smoke screen. She waited until the smoke cleared and the girl was on her hands and knees. Kin had no idea what foolish idea the other girl had, it wasn't like she could have gotten far with her bells messing with her inner ear with their sound. But at any rate it was time to end this. She drew out a kunai getting ready to kill the pink haired genin.

It was a total surprise when Sakura suddenly struck out with her tonfas when Kin was too close to dodge. The first blow hit the girl's wrist holding the kunai, Kin cried out in shock and pain as her wrist was smashed by the metal weapon as she dropped her own weapon. Sakura didn't stop though, she used her momentum to twist and with her other weapon hit the knee of the other girl, dislocating it with a sickening sound. Kin dropped to the forest floor in pain as she was unable to stand.

"How!? How are you getting through my bells!?" Kin cried out seeing Sakura standing with out any problems. Sakura drew out several shurikens and threw them at the bells then turned to Kin and pulled out an ear plug that had been in one of her ears.

"Sorry I didn't hear that."

Kin's eyes widened, now she knew why the girl had used a smoke bomb, it was to cover the fact she put in ear plugs. With her ears sealed her bells effect would have been practically nothing now. She felt herself a fool for falling for this, if Lord Orochimaru had seen this he would have been so disappointed in her. Her two team mates came up to her and she felt shame in being defeated by this pink haired girl.

'_I guess I'm lucky that Naruto talks in his sleep,'_ Sakura thought to herself. Every member of Team 7 had their own ear plugs after the first mission night time mission with Naruto. _'But now I have the other two, I know the one in the bandages has something with that arm thing of his but I'm not sure exactly what it does. The other guy with the wind tunnel arms I need to be careful with.'_

"Well looks like this girl is tougher then she looked," Dosu said.

"Like that's tough," Zaku said flexing his hands. "But let's see how she handles both of us."

**-Near By-**

Not far away Team 8 had been making their way through the woods. So far they had been lucky, they managed to get both scrolls as well as picked up an extra just in case. That had been Shino's idea in case they were beaten and they could trade the spare and still have both of them. They also were lucky to have escaped from the Suna team without being caught. They had never seen someone die like that before and it had shaken them a little. They were over it now, but they all agreed that if they even got an idea that the Suna team was close by they would bolt and keep as far away as possible.

They had been traveling in random patterns in the woods so no one could guess which direction they were heading. They were taking a small break at the moment.

"Oh man I'm hungry, I'll be happy when we get out of this place and get some real food." Kiba muttered to himself. So far they had to hunt down their food and although they knew the basic survival training and what to and not to eat, that didn't make eating things like snakes, or some bird they got taste any better.

"Hinata can you scout ahead for us?" Shino asked her.

Hinata nodded her head and activated her eyes, the world turned black and white as she scanned the area. She could notice several animals but so far no people, then she came across what looked like a large battle had taken place. She focused on that area in case whoever did it was still there. She saw several figures fighting she wasn't familiar with but she knew the other figure. It was Sakura and she was fighting against three people. That didn't make sense, where were her team mates, she quickly scanned around and found a small cave. There was Kakashi but his chakra was nearly gone, there was also Anko and there laying on the ground was Sasuke and Naruto. Both weren't moving and she suddenly knew that something was very wrong.

"Hinata, what's wrong?" Shino asked seeing the look on her face. She quickly explained what she saw to them.

"We have to go help them!" She said filled with worry.

"Well it's not like we can leave them like that, even if we are in this they're still our friends." Kiba said to Shino. The bug user thought about it, logically they shouldn't try as it would ruin their chances for advancement, but the non-logical part of him told him that, that was wrong. He remembered how Naruto came to him as a child, the first boy to actually talk to him and made friends with.

"Lead the way," Shino said as they quickly made their way to the area.

They quickly made their way to the combat area, by the time they arrived Sakura was having a hard time just standing. She had been forced to fight against the two opponents but it was hard to keep herself from getting killed. Sakura had a few injuries and she was tired but she was still fighting. She wouldn't give up because so much was riding on her and she didn't want to let her friends and team mates down, but she was nearing her limit.

Dosu the mummy looking boy jumped at her with a fist dawn back seeing an opening in Sakura's defence. But before he connected a kick to his ribs sent him flying off in another direction. Given that half his face was covered in bandages the attack had come at his blind side. He looked to see a boy with a dog where he had been. Soon Hinata and Shino joined Kiba to face off against the Sound team.

"Guys," Sakura said relieved to see them all.

"Wow you look like crap Sakura," Kiba grinned as the pink haired girl scowled at him. "Why don't you take a rest, looks like you deserve it."

"Looks like we got us some Leaf ninja backup," Zaku said as he extended his hands as the wind tunnels in his arms sent a gush of wind out. Team 8 hadn't expected such an attack as they were blown back by it. Dosu took this to run closer and when his team mate stopped his attack he used the device on his arm, it was a huge sonic weapon that could do a few things. One of them was the mess with the inner ear even blowing it if he used it right enough. He thrust his fist forward and sent his chakra into the device.

Although his blow was nowhere near any of them, Team 8 felt the attack, more so with Kiba and Akamaru from their sensitive hearing. With them unable to keep their balance he capitalized on it and with three swift attacks hit each member of the team.

Shino felt that sonic attack with even his bugs, he remembered how they felt when this boy had attacked that other one with the cards before the first exam. Now that he was closer he saw that his attacks were sonic based. Against something like that they didn't have much of a defence. But his mind came up with a plan as the boy seemed to need to see where to aim his sonic attacks.

"Blindside, now!" Shino said the codeword for something that their team came up with. As one each of them threw out a smoke bomb. The entire area was covered in smoke now, usually both parties would be blind but this was where Team 8 was unique. Kurenai had come up with this idea seeing their strengths. Shino couldn't move but his bugs would be able to move through the smoke somewhat as their senses were more powerful. Kiba and Akamaru could smell through the smoke and Hinata with her eyes would be able to see through it.

Dosu was blinded and was looking around as he couldn't find the other team. Then he felt a palm slam into his chest, then he was hit again, and again, and again. He was being hit an impossible amount of times as one more hit caused him to fall onto his back.

"Zaku!" Dosu yelled out and the wind started up again as it cleared the smoke. Dosu could see that on her knees trying to stand in the wind was the little girl of that new team. She looked up and he saw the eyes and the veins showing, the telltale sign of a Hyuga. Dosu had heard of that clan and as he tried to move he could feel that his body was struggling to move.

Hinata had used her family fighting style to seal off several of his charka paths she hadn't gotten them all but she had sealed enough to make it hard for him to move properly. It would give them time to at least avoid his sonic attacks from now on but now they had to deal with the other one.

Kiba and Akamaru tried to jump at him but the wind was too strong and actually blew them away in mid air. Shino tried his insects but the wind was forcing them back making him trying to concentrate on a new battle plan. He couldn't use his bugs on mass because they were too easily seen, he sensed a few had managed to sneak by and were trying to attack the boy. It wasn't much but maybe he could slowly build on their numbers.

Before he got that far that other boy with the sonic weapon on his arm came at him again only more slowly so Shino was able to avoid it. However with the boy with the wind it was going to be difficult in getting around him, plus the girl seemed to be using a tree to get back up. They needed to take that one boy out but so far he couldn't see a way around him yet.

Turns out he didn't have to he felt it before he saw it. There was this dark chakra building up in the area that was disturbing for his bugs and suddenly the one Sound genin cried out in pain. From behind Sasuke Uchiha had woken up. He had seen Sakura injured and the others fighting the Sound team so it wasn't hard to figure out what was going on. Also something was strange when he woke up, he felt powerful, more powerful than ever before. His veins felt like they were red hot.

Currently he had gripped the wrists of the boy with some kind of wind power in his hands and pulled the arm painfully back as he placed a foot on the spine of the person. He grinned down at the boy who managed to turn his head around enough to see him.

"Now then, what's this with you attacking my team mate over there?" Sasuke said in a dark tone.

**Next up Chapter 50: Out of the Fire...**


	50. Out of the Fire

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 50: Out of the Fire...**

Sasuke wasn't sure why he felt so good but he did, and the feeling of power he had was the most intense thing he had ever felt. He felt totally invincible, like nothing could stop him. He saw how Sakura looked banged up. She had small cuts here and there, slight bruising but nothing too serious at least. He noticed Naruto's girlfriend and her team as well was here. Well he was glad that they didn't finish off this Sound team. The girl looked like she could barely stand; the other guy looked okay although weaker than normal. The boy who he was currently breaking his arms off, well, he wasn't doing too good obviously.

Sasuke grinned as he felt the boy's arms start to give, the Sound genin was begging and pleading with him but honestly, Sasuke didn't really care. This team needed to be taught a lesson and he would teach them all the true meaning of pain. He gave a small chuckle as he pulled on one arm harshly; there was a sickening sound as the boy screamed.

"So I take it your arms are the key to your power huh?" Sasuke said to him. "Let's see what you're like when I take away that so called power of yours."

Black markings started to crawl into existence onto his body. They didn't stop until they covered about half of his body, and Sasuke felt more power at this moment.

He was about to snap the other arm and then he would really go to work on the boy, that is, until he felt someone grabbing him. He was about to attack, thinking one of the Sound genins had gotten behind him when he heard a familiar voice.

"Stop this Sasuke-kun," Sakura told him. "This isn't you. This is Orochimaru's curse mark talking. Please don't let it do this to you."

Sakura had never seen Sasuke like this, she knew this wasn't him. She could feel the evil power coming off of him, as the others did she bet. She felt her young heart breaking seeing the power of Orochimaru at work, how it twisted a person up inside. She didn't want him like this; she wanted him back to his normal self. If he kept this up, would he never return to normal, or would this be him from now on?

She could literally feel the dark energy by being so close to him and it made her feel sick inside.

"Please, just stop. You don't have to do this." She whispered to him.

Something deep inside was touched by that; Sasuke paused as he felt conflicted. His hands loosened enough for the Sound genin to slip out and slowly crawl away.

"Knock him out if he can't get it under control!"

Anko had yelled out at everyone, she had seen Sasuke run out of the cave, but it had taken her awhile to move her body out into the open. She was already in a lot of pain from forcing herself to move but she knew better than most what that curse mark could do. When she had seen the Uchiha run out like that, she had forced herself to get out from the cave. She hurt like hell, but no one knew what to do better than her.

"Sasuke-kun please!" Sakura begged him one last time.

Sasuke seemed to pause as he let the Sound genin go. Something deep inside of him was fighting to the surface. Was this wrong, if so then why did it feel so good, why was she trying to get him to stop? They hurt her hadn't they, so then why was she stopping him from killing them all? Actually he wanted to do more than just kill them, he wanted to pull them apart. Like pulling the wings off flies, they were nothing to him, they were beneath him.

"Why should you care, after what they did?" He asked her. "They should all die."

"That's not you talking!" She told him hugging him closer hoping that he would break free.

"Sakura do it now!" Anko yelled out.

Sakura didn't want to hurt her team mate but it didn't look like he was going to pull himself out of this.

"I'm sorry," She whispered out as she moved her body as fast she could. She wouldn't get a second chance and Sakura knew she had to take advantage of him being distracted. She pulled back slightly and with her tonfa, slammed the small end into the back of his head. There was a 'thunk' sound as it hit, his body jerked and he fell face forward.

She flinched when he hit as she had tried to catch him, but she had missed.

"I hope he's not going to be angry when he wakes up." Sakura said to herself.

When it was all over everyone looked at the fallen Uchiha surprised at what had happened. For a moment no one said anything, the whole thing had been just so surreal. Shino then noticed that the Sound team was reforming and sent his bugs to stop them. The black insects swarmed around the three of them.

"I think you should stay right there for now," Shino told them.

"So what do we do with them?" Kiba asked seeing that the other team was banged up.

"Look if you let us go we'll give you a scroll," Dosu said as he held up one of the scrolls. "We don't want any more trouble."

"What do you think?" Kiba asked Shino.

"We can't kill them," Shino said as he doubted any of them could kill in cold blood. It wasn't in their nature to pick on the weak either. They couldn't hold them prisoner as that would be too troubling, plus with all the other teams out there impractical. Team 7 still had problems of their own as well. "Very well, leave it behind and go. But we'll be watching you; if you try to double back to his area then we won't accept any surrender."

The Sound team wordlessly placed the scroll on the ground as they left as best they could.

Shino walked over and took up the scroll. It wasn't like they needed it but now they had a backup for both scrolls it would seem.

Hinata moved over to where Sakura was, she saw the other girl was taking care of Sasuke. "Sakura how is he?"

"He'll be okay, but he'll have a major headache when he wakes up." She said.

"What about Naruto-kun?"

"He's still inside the cave there help Anko-sensei while I get Sasuke-kun in there will you?"

Hinata nodded as she eagerly went to the cave. Although Anko complained about being helped back into a sitting position beside Kakashi, she knew that Hinata was only helping. After that the Hyuga girl sat next to Naruto as she gently stroked his blonde hair. She bit her lip seeing him looking like this. It brought back memories of when he had been put in the hospital. She had thought that she had died that time and she was very worried.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said softly. She lost track of time and noticed that Anko was smirking watching the two of them. "Please wake up. I don't want to lose you, not now."

"Y-You've always been there, you've been one of the greatest joys in my life. You were my first friend and...and my first love. Please be okay, I can't lose another person I love. I'm not strong enough to go through that again..."

She felt the tears starting to spill out and she laid down on his body, crying silently into his chest. She gripped his black vest as her tears stained the orange shirt under it. It wasn't fair, for so long she had cared for him and then she fell in love with him. Now after all these years they were finally together, it was just cruel to lose him at this point.

Then she felt a hand on her head.

"Please don't cry Hinata-chan," a tired voice said.

Hinata's head came up suddenly as she looked surprised to see Naruto looking at her. "Naruto-Kun!" She quickly hugged him tightly as he was surprised by this, also she was hugging him pretty tightly too.

Anko could only chuckle as she watched the two but noticed that Kakashi moved. She was hopeful that he was starting to wake up and so she shook him gently. He groaned which was a good sign as he hadn't been responsive until now.

"Hey Kakashi, time to wake up." She said softly.

"Uhhhh..." Kakashi slowly opened his uncovered eye. The world was dark and out of focus for him. He felt like hell and he could barely even move his body. It felt like someone was shaking him, a moment later he thought he heard voices.

"Kakashi, come one and wake up."

"Anko?" He asked as he felt a female hand on his face. He looked up and the world was slowly getting back into focus. It was dark but he could start to make out Anko's features, she looked like hell but then again, that's how he felt.

"Hey there," she said softly to him.

"How long was I out for?"

"More than a day at least. You had me really worried you know that?" She told him a little harshly. She hated how scared she had been.

"Sorry," Kakashi said after a bit. He asked for any water as his mouth was really dry. Thankfully Sakura had left one next to her and she gently poured it into his mouth. Hinata was too busy still clinging to Naruto to notice and the others weren't in here, so she could pull his mask without him worrying. She put it back up as he thanked her. After that they took the time to check his injuries, as far as he could tell he had some minor ones, nothing fatal but the chakra exhaustion was the worst of it.

"How are the others?" Kakashi asked her.

"Well Naruto seems okay, even with his own personal nurse it seems." Anko smirked as Hinata fussed over him. "Sakura got a little banged up but Sasuke...he got a curse mark put on him."

Kakashi didn't like that one bit. He knew from Anko what those things were like. He would have to deal with that when the time came.

Outside the cave, Sakura had put Sasuke's head on a makeshift pillow from spare clothing from one of their backpacks. She was worried about how things would go with him. Team 8 was also wondering how long to wait around, although they were friends this was still a competition and they had done a lot for Team 7. They couldn't leave them like this but they made a decision that when Naruto and Sasuke were back up they would leave. It was just practical because the after three days they had to make it to the tower by the fifth day. So they had a day and a half to get to the tower or else they wouldn't advance.

It was at this time that the ANBU had finally found them, for a day they had been searching the forest, which wasn't easy. They had to use stealth to try and track down Orochimaru and they had also run into several summoned snakes. Apparently the ex-Leaf ninja had set a few loose in the forest for a laugh or to just keep them busy.

But four of them had found the battle area where Kakashi and Anko had fought and followed the trail. As the four landed they took stock of the area. So far only genins were here, two looking a little worse for wear.

"Oh you finally found us!" Sakura felt a bit better now. "Anko and Kakashi-sensei are in the cave."

An ANBU wearing a bear mask stepped forward. "They're in the cave? He had reports that they went off in search of Orochimaru."

"Yes, they fought him, in fact he was after Sasuke-kun, but they're both injured." She told him. Bear looked to the others and nodded his head to them, they would look after the ninja, he got a special smoke bomb ready. It would give a large color of smoke to alert others of their position. He picked out a green one, this would mean urgent medial help was needed.

"About time you guys showed up, what the hell took so long?" Anko's voice was heard as she yelled out in sudden pain. "Damn it! Don't touch it like that!"

Bear looked to the girl, "This could take a bit, maybe you can fill me in so I can tell the Hokage what happened here?"

After Sakura told him everything, they had managed to get Anko and Kakashi out of the cave. Sakura was happy to see that Naruto was back up as well, only a bit confused on what was going on. He also looked pretty worried for his dad as well. One of the ANBU seemed to have medical training and did her best for the two of them. Anko felt a bit better as her collar bone was knitted back together a bit, although it was only a patch job, at least it didn't hurt as bad now. Kakashi was another matter, they gave him a chakra bill to help him restore his reserves but he needed rest. Also the hit to the head he had was going to have to be looked at as well.

It was around this time that Sasuke was waking up, everyone was pretty nervous at this because they weren't sure what to expect.

"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" Sakura asked attentively, although she kept one hand gripped to her weapon just in case.

"I…I think so," the boy said as he went to feel a bump to his head. What had hit him? He kind of remembered waking up, a sense of great power, he remembered breaking the arm of one of the Sound team and about to do the same to the other arm. He also remembered a little of how much he had been enjoying it, which was wrong. He never enjoyed hurting people, he always tried to stay detached from feeling in battle.

He remembered Sakura trying to calm him down, then Anko yelling out something and then…

"Did you…knock me out?" Sasuke asked her.

Sakura looked away from him, "Yes…I'm sorry, but you were out of control and Anko-sensei said that if you didn't get under control, that I had to do it. I'm really sorry…"

Sakura still couldn't believe she had just done that to him, her major crush, and what did she do? Slam a metal tonfa into his skull.

Sasuke was silent a moment before standing up, "It's okay."

"What?" She looked up in surprise.

"You did what needed to be done," Sasuke told her as her turned to look at the scene around him. "You did your duty as a ninja."

Sakura wasn't sure but this was the closest he had ever gotten to complimenting her.

Sasuke meanwhile was just avoiding looking at her because he was embarrassed. Had he really been that much out of control to be knocked out? He prided himself on his control but to lose it so easily made him feel disgusted with himself for being so weak willed. On top of that, he had to be knocked out, he hoped that no one would know of that part at least.

As Team 8 left they went on their own way to the tower. Now that the mandatory three days were up they could start to move towards the tower. As they jumped through the trees Shino noticed something. He had the extra scrolls in his backpack but it felt lighter for him. At their first rest stop he checked the bag and found that their old spare was gone. He looked at the bag but there didn't seem to be any hole in it.

"What is it?" Kiba asked him.

"I lost one of the extra scrolls." He said making sure it wasn't there.

"Well it's not like we needed two extra anyway, but I wonder when you lost it?" Kiba asked out loud. They didn't notice the slight smile on Hinata's face at that moment.

Back with Team 7 as they were packing up, Naruto noticed something poking out of his bag. He pulled it out and it was one of the scrolls. At first he thought it was theirs but Sakura was supposed to have had it, then he noticed it wasn't the same scroll. This was another one, in fact it was the one they needed.

At first he was wondering how in the world that had happened but he suddenly smiled. He remembered that Team 8 mentioned something about having two extra ones, and that Hinata had been fixing his bag for him.

'_Okay I really need to pay her back for this,'_ Naruto thought as he placed the gift his girlfriend left for him. Maybe it wasn't exactly honourable but hell, the first part of the exam had been how good to cheat. Plus anything goes in this and given they were attacked by a rogue criminal ninja, well it all evened out.

'_Man I can't wait to show them this,'_ Naruto grinned and then he noticed something strange. He was feeling a little more tired than he should. Although he just woke up, Naruto still felt not all there, which was odd. He would always bounce back, since he knew now why he healed so fast so why did it seem like it wasn't working now? He even noticed that he still had a slight cut on his arm, it was scabbed over and would heal, but the point was, that should have healed already.

He remembered that guy doing something to his stomach, the image of that mark on Sasuke's neck came into his mind. He took a quick look around and when he was sure no one was looking pulled up his shirt.

There were no markings but what if Orochimaru had done something to damage the seal there? Naruto was getting a little more worried, if the Fox ever got out it would hurt everything he cared for. He moulded some chakra and the seal showed up.

'_Okay everything looks okay, wait, what the hell? Where those there before?'_ Naruto thought he noticed something off about the seal. There were some weird looking marks that he was sure weren't there before. He hoped his dad was okay by the time they hit the tower because he would have to ask him to take a look at this.

**-24 hours later-**

Team 7 had half a day left before they had to reach the tower, they were already making a mad dash for it. They had gotten a slow start as they were still recovering from that fight with Orochimaru, it also didn't help that they had to fend off against other teams along the way. The closer they got to the tower the more teams seemed to be around the area.

It wasn't easy, in fact it was hard. Naruto for some reason was having trouble with his ninjutsu. His shadow clones were coming out a lot less in number and seemed weaker for some reason. He also couldn't get a decent wind technique going either. Sasuke was having similar problems, he once tried to do a grand fireball and had to stop in the middle of it, the curse mark on his neck had flared up giving him pain. Sakura was the only one not handicapped but her own stamina was running low from having to pull the extra weight.

Now they were just on the edge of the forest, the tower was in view but there was only one problem. There was a large open space between the forest and the tower, the perfect place to set up an ambush.

"Great, so now what do we do?" Sasuke asked looking over the large area. It looked too easy for someone to just jump out at them.

Naruto thought about it but he sudden got an idea, he remembered once when he tried to get past some bored chunin on guard duty for a prank once. He got a grin on his face as the idea took shape. "Well I have an idea we just walk right up to the place."

"What the hell are you thinking?" Sasuke asked him annoyed.

"Just watch," Naruto made a cross and there were two clones now standing with him. Although, Naruto looked disappointed for some reason. "What the hell? I was going for four not two."

"Don't look at us," one of the clones said.

"Not our fault." The other finished.

"Fine, just do what I planned on doing," Naruto said annoyed as the clones pulled a henge. Now there stood two ANBUs like the ones they had just met. "See we walk up looking like prisoners, if anyone stops us then one of these guys will tell them to get lost or else they'll be kicked out of the exam."

Sakura blinked, it wasn't bad for a plan. "But what could we have done to get the ANBU after us?"

"Uh...I hadn't thought that far ahead..."

Sasuke sighed, "How about that we were caught looking into the scrolls? Since we're not supposed to, it's the only thing that could actually get us into trouble."

"Oh, that makes sense," Naruto said as they got ready. They gave all their weapons to the 'ANBU' agents and they were lightly tied with their hands behind their backs. Just in case this didn't work, their hands could easily come out of the ropes.

With a moment to take a mental breath, they all set out. They walked instead of ran, because that would seem very suspicious. They also tried to look the part of captives, Sakura kept her head down as if in shame, Sasuke looked like he wanted to kill someone, and Naruto looked like he was trying to get his hands free, but doing a horrible job of it. They could almost feel eyes on them, as they traveled but they kept on going.

They were about halfway there when they started to think this could work. But it was when they were nearly there when they heard someone coming up behind them. They saw what looked like a Leaf genin team. Either they were on their way to the tower or they were trying to see if Team 7 was easy pickings.

"Unless you genins have a reason to be here, either get to the tower or get a scroll," one of the 'ANBU' said in a deep voice.

"Hey we were just wondering what's going on," The middle boy in the group asked. "we were just curious. I mean why are you taking them away?"

"They opened up the scroll so they're being escorted to the tower for punishment." One of fakes stated.

"Whoa, that's what happens when you open them up!?" A boy with spiky hair asked surprised. "I didn't think it was that serious."

"Well it is," The ANBU said getting a little frustrated. "Now get going or we'll report your team pestering us."

They were about to leave but the final member of the group paused as he grabbed his two friends. "Hold on, something's off. How come they're both wearing the same mask? I thought ANBU had to wear different ones."

Naruto's eyes widened as he looked, both were wearing a bear mask. He mentally slapped himself in the head for forgetting that. Both clones must have had the same idea and no one had bothered to check.

"Uh...well...he lost his and that's my spare," one of the ANBU said feeling a little nervous now.

"Something is fishy here," one of the boys said as he started to take a closer look. These ANBU were looking a little nervous plus why would looking into the scrolls be that bad? Chunins or that crazy woman with the jacket he could see overseeing the exam, but being from this village it was just too odd for the special ops to be involved.

Maybe a team from another village wouldn't notice, but being here they knew the kinds of things ANBU were said to do.

"Crap this is bad," Sasuke remarked silently to his friends.

"What now?" Sakura asked in a similar hushed tone.

"I say we make a break for it," Naruto said slipping his hands a bit more free. "My clones can slow them down, but I got one smoke bomb left as well."

"Alright but we need our equipment back from them too," Sasuke told him and the masked blonde nodded.

"Look we don't have to answer to a bunch of genins!" one of Naruto's clones yelled out trying to cow the boys. So far, it didn't seem to work.

That's when Naruto slipped his hand out and reached for one of the few pieces of equipment he could hide in his jacket. They didn't give all their weapons away, just the visible ones. "Throw us the gear and stop them!" Naruto yelled out as he threw the smoke bomb into the genin team.

One of his ANBU clones tossed the backpack containing their gear and Team 7 was off. They ran as fast as they could. Naruto looked in for anything to help as he heard the sounds of fighting. His clones wouldn't last long, one good hit and they were toast.

"Yes!" Naruto had found a kunai with an explosive tag already on it. It must have been Sakura's as he didn't have any ready like this, plus it looked like it was done by textbook standards. He threw it behind him, not even looking as he set it off. There was an explosion with some yelling, but they didn't stop running. Naruto couldn't hear anything other than his heart pounding and his breathing, but he just stayed focus ahead as he ran on. The others did the same, and soon they saw an open door at the base of the tower and ran inside. They didn't even stop until they were halfway inside the room.

Once inside, they all breathed a sigh of relief. They were panting for air as they looked behind them. It seemed that the genin team wasn't or wouldn't follow them into the tower. Maybe they didn't have both scrolls and didn't want to run the risk of being kicked out of the exam. Well, whatever the reason, Team 7 was finally in the tower and they were glad for it.

.Now they were in a huge chamber with two huge phrases written on the wall ahead of them. It sounded like a riddle to Naruto, something about Heaven and Earth for some reason.

'_**If qualities of Heave are your desire then acquire Wisdom to take your mind higher. If Earth qualities are what you lack, then train your body and prepare to attack. When Heaven and Earth are opened together, then the perilous path will be righteous forever.'**_

"So...what's this supposed to mean?" Naruto asked reading it over again. He hated riddles, they made no sense to him. "I mean other than we have scrolls called Heaven and Earth, what does it mean?"

Sakura thought it through, "I think it's something like they mean different things. Heaven and Earth seem to be associated with the mind and body."

"A ninja must train his body and mind to act as one," Naruto suddenly said catching everyone's attention and surprised look. "One of the things my dad taught me."

"So then you need both, like how we need both scrolls," Sasuke said. He looked at the two scrolls they had. "When Heaven and Earth are opened together huh?"

"I guess we can open them both up," Naruto said as he took one and Sakura took the other. They weren't sure what would happen, after all they weren't supposed to open it. He did and was left a little confused at first. It looked like a seal at first but he was unfamiliar with this type. "Hey what kind of seal is this, all it says is 'man' on it."

Then both started to smoke, both genins threw the scrolls away thinking they might have screwed up. There a pillar of smoke, as it cleared a form seemed to be inside of it. Then when the smoke cleared they were greeted by a very familiar sight.

"Hey there," Iruka said smiling at them. "For a moment there I wasn't sure you'd make it, but congratulations on passing the second exam."

**Next up Chapter 51: Eliminations**

**Sorry for the delay things just kept getting in the way.**


	51. Eliminations

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 51: Eliminations**

Everyone was thankful for the rest they got, although they soon had to go into the main chamber, there was a huge statue with what looked like an area. Above there were observation areas, it was pretty dark tone to the place as well. Naruto could see the other teams that had made it, the Sand, Sound and Mist teams were here alone with several other teams from his village.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said going over to him with a hug. She had been worried when she had left him in the woods, but seeing him here put her at ease.

He gently hugged her back, "Hey there Princess, by the way thanks for the scroll. I promise to pay you back."

"Well there is something, I'll tell you later okay?" She asked him knowing that she had to bring him over to her father soon. He made it clear that the first break they had, she was to bring him home for a dinner so he could talk to him.

"Hey Naruto, looks like you lost the bet," Kiba grinned as he walked over to him. "We've been here for about three hours now."

"Crap," Naruto muttered. "Okay first chance I get, I'll get you one."

"No hurry but looks like we got to line up." The other boy said as everyone was gathering. So they all got into their teams and lined up. There were many other ninja from the village here, but in front of it all was the Hokage in his official white robes of office and hat.

"I'm glad to see you all here," the Hokage said to everyone. "Although you should all congratulate each other on your success, it would seem that too many of you passed this test this year."

"Huh, what the hell does that mean?" someone asked.

"For the final round there are only a certain number of spots," the Hokage went on to explain that they would even held the exams. How the true meaning were showing the skills of each nation without actually fighting wars.

A new ninja, a sickly looking one that seemed to cough a lot showed up. He introduced himself as Hayate explained things further. He was the proctor for the third exam but it would seem that too many had made it through. Since so many important people were coming, they needed to show only the best. Meaning that, they had to weed them out even further. So they would hold elimination rounds, two people would be randomly picked and then they would fight. The winners would move on to the third and final stage.

That didn't go over very well for most of them, but it wasn't like they had a choice. So they had to just deal with it, it would seem.

Everyone took their places up in the stands, usually against the railings there as they waited for the names to show up on the screen by the statue. Everyone was anticipating their challengers although Team 7 knew they would have the hardest time. Sasuke wasn't sure what that mark would do, it was already hindering him, Naruto still felt really off thanks to that thing on his stomach, and Sakura she still felt the aches and pains from that fight with the Sound team.

"I wish dad was here for this," Naruto said out loud with a sigh. He really wanted to have his dad here to see him, to make him proud.

"Well then just look behind you," a familiar voice said. Naruto and everyone else turned around surprised.

"Dad! I thought you would still be in the hospital?" Naruto asked seeing his father. Although Kakashi was on crutches and looked tired, he didn't seem to be in any pain. Anko was also standing next to him, her arm was still in a sling but otherwise she looked fine as well.

"Oh don't worry, me and Anko were cleared, right?" Kakashi said to her.

"Of course," She said giving a huge smile.

**-Konoha Hospital-**

Nurse Mai was just one of the regular medical staff, she was making her usual rounds at the hospital. She was checking on one of the new patients that had been brought in at this time. Mai knocked on the door to announce herself.

"Mr. Hatake, are you awake?" She asked. She didn't hear a sound so she assumed her patient was sleeping. She opened the door to the plain hospital room, he was the only one in a bed at this point. The covers were pulled up leaving only his silver hair poking out. She looked at the clip board to see what his status was.

"Chakra exhaustion, that can be very dangerous," she said to herself and she went over to him. "Mr. Hatake it's time for your medication."

She shook him but he didn't move, "Mr. Hatake, are you okay?" She pulled the covers back and screamed. There was a life size looking scarecrow with a crewed drawing on the face of it. She took a moment before, this time, screaming in rage as she threw the clip board.

"I hate ninja patients!" She yelled out. They always had a nasty way of leaving the hospital before they were medically cleared. If people thought doctors were the worst patients then they never met a ninja. They always thought they were so tough and could take anything. To make matters worse this was the third one this month that had escaped.

"What's going on!?" Another nurse asked as she ran into the room. She saw the scarecrow and sighed. "Not another one, we just lost the female that was brought in with him as well."

"Why do they keep doing this?" Mai asked.

The other nurse just sighed and shrugged, "I have no idea. God, I hate the paper work for this."

**-Forest of Death Tower-**

"Well I'm glad you're both here then," Naruto said but then he looked serious. "Hey dad can I talk to you about something?"

Kakashi noticed the serious look and nodded, he wasn't sure what was up but he limped off to the side as Naruto went over to him. The other two members on the team were wondering what was going on, especially Sakura. She noticed that Naruto pointed to his stomach and she guessed it was due to whatever had been bothering him. He then looked around and turned his back to everyone when Kakashi said something. He pulled up his shirt and Kakashi took a look. Then he pulled it down and they exchanged a few more words.

Even if she knew how to read lips she couldn't tell what they were saying with the masks on. She sighed, this was just one more question that had started to show up with her team mate.

"So what do you think dad?" Naruto asked him in a hushed tone.

Kakashi thought about it, he knew seals but he wasn't a seal master. "At the moment I can't do anything, but I do know of someone in the village that can help you out."

"Really? Well that's great...I just hope I can pass this part with this stupid thing screwing with me."

"Hey look they're showing the first match." Ino said loudly enough for everyone to turn to look.

**Hinata Hyuga vs Neji Hyuga**

Everyone looked at the cousins as the two of them shared a look. Both didn't look like they wanted to fight the other but they had no choice in this. Both silently went down to the arena both looking like they wished they had a different opponent.

Both were standing across from each other and only waited until the Proctor told them to start. Hinata was nervous about this, she knew the kind of skills that Neji had, plus she didn't want to fight him. He was family and the closet thing she thought of as a brother to this world.

"Go for it Hinata-chan I know you can do it!" Naruto shouted out and she felt the warmth of his voice flow into her. She felt more confident as she took her fighting stance as did Neji. With the Proctor declaring the start she moved in first. She struck out with her fists, her eyes activated. She would have to end this quick and fast if she wanted to beat him, if this dragged out she would lose.

Neji activated his own eyes as, he was surprised to be put on the defensive. Normally that was Hinata that went into the defensive. He had to admit she had more fire in her now, and he had a feeling why that was. He laughed on the inside, Naruto always did bring out things in Hinata that no one else could. He had to keep his guard up and when he saw an opening he threw an attack to her arm.

She backed away feeling the pain of the hit but quickly got back into her fighting stance. Neji felt a pang of regret. True he had spared with her many times, but in this the winner would be the only one to continue on. Both of them would want to go on and give their fathers something to be proud of. For a branch member to go to the finals on his first try would be something his father could be proud of.

But he also knew that Hinata had it tougher, being from the main branch meant she was under a lot more pressure to perform. He could always take this tests again, it's not like someone expected him to win. The truth was that she might want this more than he did.

Hinata continued to fight but it wasn't an easy battle. Then she finally saw an opening, Neji always kept up one of the strongest defences she had seen to see an opening like she was now was nearly unheard of. She struck out hitting him in the ribs and he backed off. She blinked, that shouldn't have happened, she was waiting for a counter attack but he didn't. It was then that she knew what was going on, he was going easy on her.

She decided she couldn't play it that way, so the next time he struck out, she lowered her defences and took a hit to her face.

"Hinata!" Neji froze when he hit his cousin. He hadn't meant to hit her that hard like that. "Why did you do that?"

"I won't win like that," Hinata said as she got up. "Please, don't go easy on me."

Neji looked a little guilty at her as she had caught what he was doing. He saw the look in her eyes and knew that she wouldn't let him win like this. He mentally sighed as she got back into his stance and waited for her to do the same. This time either one held back as they fought.

Up in the stands Naruto watched h is girlfriend fight, he had no idea that she was so limber. Bending backwards to dodge Neji's fist was very impressive. And a little hot, although a bit too young for it to be used, he did file that away for future use.

The fight continued but it was soon apparent that Hinata was outclassed, Neji always trained his hardest to push himself to the limits and then go beyond. It was one of the few reasons that he was glad that Gai was picked to be his sensei. Sure he was strange and the training could be insane but it helped him out. Although Hinata did train hard, she had to split her time between her duties as a main house member.

Hinata was breathing hard as she tried to get up from another hit, Neji was getting more and more hits through her defences. She was slowing down and was getting tired. Neji saw her struggling to get up, although she knew she couldn't win she was still pushing herself refusing to get up.

"Please just stay down," Neji told her. "If this goes on then I could end up hurting you very badly."

"I...won't give...up."

She stood up on unsteady legs. Neji knew that if this continued on he would do serious harm, the gentle fist style took time but it was designed to break a person apart. Now all her injuries were starting to add up and he couldn't continue. He wanted so much to make his father proud, but he could never look the man in the eyes again, if he put Hinata into the hospital. The role of the branch family was to protect the main house.

He let his guard down as he started to raise his arm, "Proctor..."

Hinata's eyes widened as she saw what he was doing, he was going to give up. "Neji-neesan what are you doing?"

"I won't allow myself to harm you anymore, I'm supposed to protect you not hurt you. I'm sorry but I can't let you continue on like this. Even if it means giving up on my goal."

Hinata didn't want to disappoint her father or Naruto watching, but Neji was going to remove himself. She didn't want to win like this, she couldn't claim a victory by this. Only that she didn't lose, but still it seemed like a cheap way to go on. She wanted to get into the finals on her own merits and her own strength. If she couldn't do that, did that mean that she deserved to go on?

Neji turned to the proctor who was waiting for him. "Proctor I would like-"

"I give up!"

Everyone turned to see Hinata with her arm raised. "Proctor I forfeit."

"Hinata-sama, why?" Neji asked her.

She gave him a sad smile, "Because you deserve it more than me. I'm not ready, I know that now. I want to go on with my own strength and now, you're stronger than I am."

Neji looked at her in shock but quickly got a small smile on his face as he shook his head. He loved his cousin but her big heart might get her into trouble one day. He went over and put out his hand, she smiled as she shook it. "I look forward to when you are stronger then."

Hinata smiled up at him and nodded.

Naruto sighed, although he was proud that she stuck by her morals and her pride, he had been looking forward to seeing her in the finals. Well he would just congratulate her anyway on how well she fought.

**Kin Tsuchi vs Shikamaru Nara**

"Hey Shikamaru," Sakura said to him as he passed her by, "watch out for her bells. They make this genjutsu that messes with your balance. Also her knee and wrist should still be weak."

"Alright, thanks." He nodded as he lazily made his way to the ground floor. He studied the girl and she did seem to favour one side. Although he hated fighting girls, well he hated to fight period but girls even more so. When the fight stared she seemed to start with her bells and Sakura had been right about them. It wasn't easy to figure out a way around this but he did come up with a plan.

This time her bells created clones of her, or at least the illusion of clones. There was one senbon with a bell on it somewhere but he couldn't exactly go after it. She was throwing more of those damn needles and they really hurt going in. He kept her distracted with talking as he got his shadow jutsu to nab her. He made it look like it was the shadow of a thread and so she would then copy his movements exactly.

He got her into the right position, with her being too close to the wall while he was in the middle of the arena. They both drew out a kunai each, both threw it and both dodged by bending backwards. Too bad for Kin her head slammed into the solid wall with enough force to knock her out. It was a short match but that was all.

"Wow, he's a lot smarter than I thought," Sakura stated as she was next to Ino.

"When you can get him off his lazy ass he can actually come up with some neat stuff," Ino told her best friend. "So, whose next?"

**Sasuke Uchiha vs Kabuto Yakushi**

"Sasuke," Kakashi said getting his attention. "Don't use the mark, you haven't had the time to fight it and I could seal it to help, but we didn't have the time for it."

"Listen to him kid," Anko said in a serious manner. "At this point it will control you if you do."

"Alright then, I guess it's the hard way," the boy said as he reached for his katana. He would have to use his sword and fighting skills as using chakra seemed to bring out the damn thing.

Kabuto however had other worries. He was here to work for Lord Orochimaru, he had been his spy among the Leaf for years now but this proved to be a problem. For years he had been down playing his skills but the Uchiha wasn't at his best. Things would get out of hand and either Sasuke might end up killing him, or he would have to show his true talents. Well maybe there was another option, he didn't need to progress in this to serve his master after all. Maybe it would be for the best, he needed to help with the plan.

"Proctor." Kabuto said before moving. "I don't have the chakra to fight so I'll have to withdraw."

"You sure about that?" Hayate asked coughing a little. Kabuto nodded in replay and the Proctor was forced to make Sasuke the winner."

"What the hell!?" Sasuke yelled out. "He's giving up without a fight?"

"Well maybe this is for the best." Kakashi said relieved. Sasuke however hated to 'win' like this. He felt embarrassed about this and scowled at the white haired teen across the gap.

**Zaku Abumi vs Shino Aburame**

This fight had been pretty one sided, even though Zaku was injured he still tried to fight. The air canons in his one working arm were nasty, but Shino was ready. He knew now the kind of attack this genin used, plus he relied on it too much. A ninja that relied too much on a single technique ran the trouble of it being your biggest weakness.

Shino made sure the Sound genin's attention was all on him, while he used his bugs to get into the pathway of the working arm. There was a tube in there and over the course of the battle more and more insects would build up until it was blocked. With it plugged, the next time the boy tried to use it, he had a backfire effect. With his arm practically destroyed it was easy for Shino to finish the boy off.

He covered him in bugs and drained just enough chakra to make sure he couldn't move.

**Naruto Hatake vs Yoroi Akado**

"All right here I go!" Naruto yelled out as he jumped down to meet one of Kabuto's team mate. For some reason both him and the other guy wore these all black clothing with dark glasses like Shino's but with this strange mask. It was just a piece of cloth that covered the lower face unlike his own mask.

The proctor began the match and Naruto decided to try out his wind techniques.

"Wind blade!" He yelled out after finishing his hand signs and with a flat hand made a slashing motion. Although this was something he had been working on, the effect was not what he wanted. Instead of a super dense thin line of razor air slicing at his opponent, all he got was a nice little breeze.

"Ah crap," Naruto muttered as his chakra was more messed up then he thought.

Yoroi just laughed, "What the hell was that supposed to be?"

"Shut up, I'm having an off day okay?" Naruto said annoyed as he tired his favorite jutsu. He managed to create a total of five clones. "Alright guys this time we got to get this right."

"You got it," one clone said as they all reached for the blade on their backs. They all drew the chakra blade that belonged to the White Fang himself.

Since he couldn't trust his chakra at the moment he was going to do it the hard way, but thankfully with his grandfather's sword and his clones it might make things more interesting. The clones came at his opponent as he was wondering what kind of ninja this other masked genin was. Yoroi turned out to be pretty quick on his feet as he managed to dodge Naruto's attacks. The other boy pulled out a kunai as he would use that to parry the blades coming at him.

The boy turned out to be better than most as he slowly started to cut down Naruto's clones. Finally only the real one was left and now Naruto was attacking. Yoroi had a few close calls, even a small cut on his arm from when he had lost sight of one of the clones during the earlier attack. If the boy could make anymore clones than that, he would have been in serious trouble.

But now he had what he was waiting for, Naruto thrust with his blade and the other boy went to block. At least that's what it seemed, he parried the blade and moved in closer. He grabbed Naruto by the writs and bent his arm back as he kept moving forward. He placed his weapon arm into Naruto's elbow, now Naruto's arm holding his sword was bent back and had the kunai of his opponent dangerously close to his face. The hold was in place but he was sure he could get out of it, he just wondered why the guy wanted to get so close.

Yoroi grinned as he managed to get a hold of the genin, he would drain the boy of all his chakra. Already he could feel the power flowing into him, he grinned to himself. The boy was rich in chakra, more so than anyone he had ever drained before.

"What the hell are you doing?" Naruto asked as he struggled to get out of the grapple hold.

"Taking your chakra for my own," he said to him.

Naruto's eyes widened as he tried to struggle free, but not for the reasons that the other guy might be thinking. Yoroi chuckled as the boy tried to free himself but it was no use. The flowing life energy was going into him. Then suddenly something happened, the power changed. Suddenly his body felt like it was on fire, like the chakra was trying to burn him from the inside out.

He screamed in pain as he pushed the boy away from him. He was clawing at his own skin as the burning didn't stop.

"It's burning me! What is this power, what the hell are you!?" He yelled out at him. No human should have chakra like this. "You're not human! You're a monster!"

He continued to scream and thrash until his body went limp. No one spoke as the proctor went to check on the boy, he was unconscious and he quickly called for medics to be brought in. They carried him off quickly leaving Naruto to look around. He could see various looks around him, confusion being the most of it.

Then he felt something else, he saw that Gaara was looking at him now. There was something in those dead eyes, like he was looking at interesting prey, or maybe recognition, maybe both.

"Mother wants his blood," Gaara said mostly to himself as his brother and sister gave him a look. They both knew what this would mean, that Gaara would want to kill that Naruto guy now. Hopefully they could make him wait until the finals.

Up in the stands Sakura knitted her brow together, there was something going on now. She looked around and saw everyone was just as confused. Actually, check that. Only the genins were confused, the adults didn't look as surprised.

"What the hell was that all about?" Sasuke asked seeing what she was seeing.

"I don't know," she said quietly back. "Do you think they're keeping something from us?"

Sasuke wasn't sure but he felt like there was something going on. There were too many mysteries going on about Naruto lately that he could ignore. They noticed the he was very quiet as he was making his way back up the stairs, he wasn't even looking at anyone. It was odd to see him like this, Hinata went over to him but he didn't seem to respond. Something was really bothering him, Sakura could tell if not even Hinata could get through to him.

**Misumi Tsurugi vs Sakura Haruno**

When Sakura saw her name she knew that she couldn't think about the mysteries about Naruto anymore. She prepared herself as she went to face off with the team mate of the person that Naruto had just put into the hospital. Like Yoroi, he was dressed in the same outfit.

"I have no idea what you're blond friend did to my team mate but you'll pay for it." The older genin told her.

Sakura felt a little nervous as she took out her tonfas, she wasn't sure what this genin was capable of as she had never seen him before. She decided to wait and see what he would do first, the older boy came at her and she prepared herself. He took out kunai and went to attack her, she dodged and slammed her tonfa into the elbow joint to break it. But to her surprise it didn't break, it actually gave but there wasn't anything solid there.

The momentary surprise gave him a chance to slam a fist into her stomach, she grunted as she took a step back and brought up her other weapon to defend against his blade. But then she felt another blow, which was confusing as she was out of his range. At least she had thought as much as she felt something grab around her ankle. She looked down and was surprised that one of his arms was wrapping it self around like a snake.

She slammed her metal weapon onto the flesh but it was like hitting rubber.

"That won't work on me little girl," Misumi said as he pulled and she was taken off her feet. She landed onto her back and then was taken into the air as he whipped her up like a chain. She was slammed back into the ground but kept the grip on her weapons. One of the things she had been trained to do, was never let go of your weapons unless you wanted to.

She felt the arm gone and quickly forced herself to roll and get some distance. She managed to get up only to see him smirking at her.

"My joints can be dislocated at will, plus my body then stretches out. You can hit my body but you're only hitting soft flesh. The odds of you hitting any of my bones are very small."

Sakura knew she was in trouble now, he had the range on her and she couldn't hurt him at this distance. Suddenly his arms shot out at her again and she was put on the defensive. That's how her fight went as she kept dodging his arms trying to think of a way to attack. She tried shurikens but he only dodged them. But sooner or later she had to make a mistake and while dodging one arm another managed to hit her in the kidneys.

Staggered she was easy prey as his arms wrapped around her entire body now.

The arms started to crush her body, she grunted out in pain as she couldn't breath at the moment. She knew that if she breathed out, she wouldn't be able to take in anymore air but her lungs were already starting to burn with the need for air from all the physical activity she had been doing.

"Go ahead kid, try and take a deep breath," he goaded her. "It will be over quickly, and if you don't I'm pretty sure your ribs are about to break anyway, then I'll just crush your internal organs."

Sakura hadn't thought that he was actually going to try and kill her, but this was the chunin exams. Even if he was a Leaf it would seem that killing fellow ninja happened. She needed to think, she hadn't been in a position like this, since that first real mission. The mission where she had killed a man, it was a painful memory but she had grown a little harder to it. She needed to think, she couldn't die here, she wouldn't die here she decided.

She couldn't use her arms or legs, so what did that leave?

There was one option, it wasn't glamorous but it might be effective. She looked down and opened her mouth as she quickly bit into the flesh near her mouth. She bit down as hard as she could, she could taste blood in her mouth and it wasn't hers.

He cried out in pain as his arms loosened up and she managed to slip out.

"Well that was effective," Anko smirked at her. "Girl knows how to fight dirty, I think I like her more now."

"Hopefully she can capitalize on it," Kakashi said as they watched on.

Misumi was cradling his arm seeing the blood flowing out of it, it wasn't too bad but it still hurt. He couldn't believe the girl actually_ bit_ him. He stretched his arms out, this time he was going to crush her limps and then wrap around her neck. He was going to finish her off quickly before, now he was pissed.

Sakura knew what to expect this time, but she also had been working on a plan. So far this guy only seemed to be able to extend his arms so the rest of his body had to be solid. She only had one chance, she carefully watched how they moved as she looked for her opening. The world seem to slow as her mind increased, and suddenly she saw it as clear as day. She jumped between the hands as she rolled forward. Letting her momentum carry her, she kicked off and managed to cover most of the distance. Sakura knew that he would bring his arms back it was only a matter of time of who was quicker.

Sakura saw the arms retracting but she wasn't sure if she would make it. She only had one chance, she put all the power she could into her legs and jumped forward. She threw one of her tonfas at her opponent. He took a moment to dodge it but that was what she wanted. He was now in her path and she thrust forward, hitting him in the solar plexus. There was no joint there, no way of him shifting or moving the parts of the body of his core.

He groaned in pain as his arms went limp, and he staggered back. Sakura wasted no time, she couldn't let him recover. She twisted her tonfa around and with the short end, jabbed it straight into his jaw. A large piece of bone that she knew he couldn't protect like his arms. His head snapped back as he staggered a few more steps. She kicked him in the stomach and as he bent forward she swung her weapon in an arc to catch him in the side of his skull.

He fell to the ground with her panting as her adrenaline started to drop off.

"Damn," Ino muttered to herself, she was glad that she wasn't fighting Sakura. Those weapons of hers may not look lethal but they were nasty.

Kakashi smiled as he could breath more easily now. He looked to Gai and Asuma, "Looks like I won the bet. All my genins made it."

"Maybe, but Ino and Choji still have to fight." Asuma said.

"And Tenten and Lee as well, you may not be the only one with their full team going through," Gai said to his eternal rival.

Anko smiled as Sakura made her way up to them, "Hey kid that wasn't bad."

"Thank you Anko-sensei." Sakura said feeling proud at how she had done.

"Nice going Sakura-chan," Naruto said a bit more normal again. Although he seemed a little down about his match but at least he seemed more like his normal self.

Sasuke looked at her and gave her a rare smile with a nod. She blushed a bit, he was actually proud of what she had done, her inner self was very happy about it but she kept her emotions in check. She gave a small smile and a nod back to him as she took her place with her team.

**Next up Chapter 52: The Final Eliminations**

**So far here's the listing for the final matches:**

**Dosu Kinuta vs Choji Akimichi**

**Kiba Inuzuka vs Gendo Kaji**

**Tenten vs Temari**

**Ino Yamanaka vs Ami**

**Gaara vs Akuma**

**Kankuro vs Rock Lee**


	52. The Final Eliminations

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 52: The Final Eliminations**

So far things were going well for the exams, thought the Hokage. He was happy to see that Kakashi's team had made it all the way through. It was very rare thing to happen, but it went a long way to prove that he could deliver what he promised when the team was formed. Already he could see potential in them all. Although it was a bit sad that the Last Uchiha couldn't fight but from the reports he got, that might have been a hidden blessing. The thought of his old student still pained him deeply, he always wondered where he had gone wrong with the boy. What had caused him to change or had it been gradual? Had he been blinded by his love for the boy that made him miss the signs?

That was the sad thing he had loved the boy almost like a son. Such a gifted and talented boy, he had so much promise and yet he became nothing short of a monster. The old man always wished he could undo his greatest failure Orochimaru hadn't always been the man he was now. Looking at the youngsters here, he was wondering how many Orochimaru's lay hidden under the masks of innocence?

He was feeling his age now, he was old and tired but the village still needed him. He just wasn't sure just how much longer he could hold out. His spirit still held the Will of Fire, but his body was another story. Perhaps it was time to start thinking on retirement again he was one of the oldest Kages in history, but times where changing. He could feel it in his bones and a new leader would be needed soon. The only problem was with who.

The board came alive as the names randomly danced over the screen until it settled on two more names.

**Dosu Kinuta vs Choji Akimichi**

"Oh man, I got to fight the scary looking mummy guy?" Choji had remembered what he had seen before, how that guy had taken out Kabuto with one blow.

"Oh come on you can do this," Ino told him. "I bet Asuma-sensei will take us out to BBQ if we all pass, right?"

Asuma smiled and nodded his head, "that's right if you all pass then I'll take you all out, on me."

He hoped they did win, or at least tie with Kakashi's team, then the pot would be split and he could afford it. Every chunin exams, all the Leaf ninja jonins would put in for a pot. Everyone that had one winner got a smaller prize but no one had gotten a slam dunk before that is until Team 7.

"Just be careful of that thing on his arm," Shikamaru said to his best friend. "I don't know what it is, but it looks important."

"Oh, okay then. Thanks and you can bet that I'll bring home a win!" Choji said with enthusiasm as he walked down to the arena. He could already taste the juicy meat, man he couldn't wait to eat. Soon he came face to face with his opponent.

"Look Fatty, if you want to die that bad then by all means give me your best shot." Dosu said to him chuckling.

"What did you just call me!?" Choji yelled out enraged. "I'm not fat, I'm husky, Expansion Jutsu!"

His whole body just expanded like a balloon, then he pulled his arms and legs into his body like a turtle as blue chakra was seen for a moment. Then his head went in and he became a giant ball. Dosu was taken by surprise as he never heard of something like this before. He quickly threw himself to the left as the other boy came at him like some kind of giant bolder.

The boy was spinning himself making himself move with a decent amount of speed. Dosu noticed that although he was large, he was only fast in going one direction. When the big boy turned he had to turn in a wide arc and he doubted the boy could adjust his aim on the fly. He dodged again to check and it was working out. He was able to dodge but the other boy couldn't turn quick enough to capitalise.

Now he just needed a way to make the boy stop for just a moment, he couldn't hit him while he was spinning that fast. He remembered what happened to Kin and decided to use the wall to his advantage. He manoeuvred himself to the wall and waited. The boy was coming at him just like he knew he would and at the last moment he jumped out of the way. Choji slammed into the wall making himself stuck, now Dosu had a chance.

Although he couldn't use his sound wave with his head covered, sound could travel in other ways. He slammed his gauntlet into the body's body and activated it. The sounds moved through the body, they travelled through it until it reached the inner ears. At that point it was all over as Choji lost his concentration and turned back to normal and fell the ground unable to stand.

"Ah man I was sure he was going to win," Ino whined, "What the hell happened?"

"Choji's body acted like a conduit for the sound," Shikamaru told her. "The sound travelled inside of him instead of outside."

"Oh man I was looking forward to getting treated too." Ino sighed. "Well I hope he's okay at least."

"Yeah he should be fine if just really dizzy." He told her.

**Kiba Inuzuka vs Gendo Kaji**

Kiba looked at his opponent, he didn't know what to expect from the foreigner, although his ice blue eyes were hard and cold as his face. The boy looked very controlled and it was hard to tell what kind of ninja he was. Well he wasn't going to wait around, he charged forward but the other boy just stood his ground. As soon as he lashed out, at the last moment the boy moved. It was quick and fast, he first dodged his blow then took his wrist and gave a punch to his armpit. The pain Kiba felt was intense, but the boy didn't stop, he kicked him hard in the ribs making the Leaf ninja fly back.

"If this is the best you can do, you will die this day." Gendo said coldly to him.

Kiba held his arm from the pain, the nerves under the armpit were very sensitive and apparently the Mist ninja was good as hand to hand combat. Well it looks like he would have to pull out all the stops, he placed his hands into a seal for a special one that only his clan use.

_Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry: All-Fours Jutsu_ Kiba thought to himself as the chakra in his body started to make the changes. This was something that his clan used, it was a secret how it was done, but what it did was make the user more canine. Giving them enhanced senses but also enhanced speed, strength and reflexes. His canine teeth expanded as his finger nails turned more into claws, he leapt at the other boy ready to slash with his claws.

Gendo was hard pressed to dodge this time as the claws managed to just cut through his clothing but only just that. Gendo took a step back as he studied his opponent, the boy was too sure of himself and charged right in. Kiba did just that, charging in wildly but Gendo was ready for that kind of speed and adjusted accordingly. He jumped back and reached behind the small of his back with his left hand, he pulled out a knight he kept for in close combat where his sword was too large.

He dropped down as he gave a cut to Kiba's arm, then revered the blade and swept back with it cutting Kiba's coat as he missed the ribs.

Kiba hadn't expected the Mist ninja to be this tough. Well he would have to deal with not just him, he was saving his dog just in case, and it would look like it was time to call him out.

"Akamaru, I think it's time boy." he dug into his pocket as he pulled out one of the special bills used for the dogs. His small dog jumped up to eat it, his fur became brown as he got more wild looking. This was a battle pill used to make their dogs even more powerful in battle. Kiba crouched down as his dog landed on his back.

There was a puff of smoke and suddenly there were two Kibas there in the arena.

Gendo didn't look impressed. "Two or one, it's still the same to me."

"Oh yeah well try this one, Fang over Fang!" Kiba shouted out as both of them jumped out at him and turned into twisting whirlwinds of destruction.

Gendo quickly overcame his surprise and dodged, but he was hit slightly on the shoulder. His uniform was ripped and also he felt his skin was torn slightly as well. He didn't get much of a breather as they came around for another go. He pulled his sword to parry one of them, but the other slashed him in the back.

He was kept on the defensive, he was only just barely to keep from being torn apart even more. Gendo pulled a smoke bomb to hide himself, but the smoke may had blinded most ninja but for an Inuzuka they had other ways to see.

"You think this will stop us, we can still smell you." Kiba grinned as they fought on.

"Who said that was the reason I wanted to hide from your sight?" came Gendo's voice. The only problem was that Kiba heard it behind him but he could smell him from ahead. Then a sharp pain bit into his skin as he cried out. He heard Akamaru cry out as well, but more cuts came into Kiba's body.

When the smoke cleared both Kiba and Akamaru were laying on the ground wounded from several cuts. There were also several versions of Gendo there as well.

"What the hell?" Kiba asked weakly.

"Kai," Gendo said as the others dissolved into water. He had used water clones while under the cover of the smoke and attacked from different angles.

Kiba lay there feeling the pain of the sword slash, it hurt like hell. He had never been wounded before and he could smell his own blood. He coughed as he looked up to the ceiling trying to move but it hurt too much. Gendo walked over to him, dragging the sword on the ground, the scrapping sound was like a death toll in Kiba's ears. He looked up to see the other boy with a cold grin on his face.

"Time to end this mutt," Gendo said as he raised his sword to finish him off. Kiba could only stare in horror as this boy was going to kill him.

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata yelled out as she covered her mouth in horror. "Kurenai-sensei!"

"Proctor!" Kurenai yelled out, "As the boy's sensei I forfeit for him, stop the match!" Kurenai didn't want to have the boy die there in the ring and didn't want to take the chance that the Proctor could wait too long to stop it. These exams were deadly at times and the Mist ninja was out for blood.

"Alright this match is over then," the Proctor said.

Gendo looked sourly at them, "What are you talking about? The boy still lives, so this fight goes on until one of us dies. That is how we do things in my village, the strong survive and the weak die, that is the way of the world. We only came here for one reason." He eyed Team 7 who were watching him. "To show how a real Mist ninja dose things."

His sword started to come down but to everyone's shock, Kiba's body faded away. The young Mist ninja was taken a back by it but soon found a kunai to his throat. He looked to see that Kurenai was behind him, giving him a hard look that said he would have to get past her to finish Kiba off. The Mist genin knew that he was no match for a jonin, and that the boy was most likely hidden behind some kind of genjutsu.

He put away his blade as he glare back at her, "Codling your students will only get them killed when you are not there. It is better he dies now so that a stronger one can replace him."

"We do things differently here," She told him.

"Obviously," The boy said in disdain of her actions and left to join his teammates.

Kurenai got rid of the genjutsu as the medics came running to see to the boy. Kurenai was worried, the wound was nasty although thankfully it looked like Kiba would pull through although it would take time for that wound to heal, and would be his first scar from battle as well. She looked to see the worried looks of her team and of the others who were friends with the boy and his dog. She would have to let them know he would be okay, although the boy's comment on 'codling' rang through her head.

Was she too easy on her students? She didn't think so, then again the Mist were more extreme in their practices and training. Perhaps she should review a bit of their training, if they ever came up against someone like that again and she wasn't around…the thought wasn't a pleasant one.

**Tenten vs Temari**

Tenten grinned as it was her turn up, she couldn't wait for her chance. She got the ring eagerly as she waited for the other girl to show up. She was at least a year older and seemed to have some kind of weapon behind her. That was good, she loved fighting other people who used weapons.

Neji was starting to worry, since the start of this match Tenten had not been doing too well. It was just bad luck that she got the worst possible opponent for this match. He hadn't known that Temari was a wind user. Tenten was trying everything but she couldn't get close to the Suna girl, that fan was keeping Tenten at a distance. Plus the strong winds were blowing all her weapons away. He watched as Tenten was forced to use the one technique that was her best one, he watched as Tenten pulled out two scrolls. They looked like any normal kinds but Neji knew just which ones those were.

This was Tenten's own technique, the Twin Rising Dragon. Tenten smiled thinking she could still pull out a win as the two scrolls rose up into the air making a double helix, they stayed up in the air almost as if hanging on strings. Tenten jumped up as she put chakra into her legs and reached the top. The scrolls were filled with seals that held many weapons she had sealed into them. One by one different weapons would be released and faster than a normal human, Tenten threw out weapon after weapon.

Unfortunately Temari wasn't impressed, she easily blew the weapons and Tenten away with one giant blast from the fan and all the weapons were blown away. Tenten fell as she lost her concentration and she slammed onto Temari's fan right onto her back. Tenten cried out as she went limp and Neji froze in horror. That kind of fall could crippled a person or kill them if her spine broke just right, plus that Suna girl did that on purpose.

She smirked at her own superiority as she just cast Tenten aside, as soon as the Proctor call the match Neji raced to her side. He knelt down as he checked her out, his eyes could see fractures but the spine was intact thankfully. Tenten moaned in pain, her body hurt and she felt numb in some areas.

"Tenten can you hear me?" Neji said gently to her.

"Neji?" Tenten asked weakly.

"Lay still you took a bad hit," He said as he stopped her from moving.

"I lost," Tenten said in a defeated tone, she let her team down, she let herself down. She had tried so very hard but she had just been outclassed the entire match. It had been pathetic, what must Neji think of her now? She didn't want to open her eyes to see the look on his face. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," he said in a surprisingly gentle tone. "You should be proud, you fought without giving an inch. I'm proud of you."

Tenten's eyes shot open as she looked up at him, she was surprised to see the look on his face and eyes. She could see that he wasn't disappointed in her, in fact he looked worried for her and something else, something she couldn't understand but it made her feel a bit warm inside for some reason. She felt him holding one of her hands and she blushed a bit, she knew that Neji rarely showed his emotions, after all most Hyuga were like that. So for him to show such a simple gesture to her, spoke volumes.

The medics came out yet again with a stretcher and gently placed her in it, being mindful of her neck and back. Neji felt Gai's presence behind him as he watched them load her onto it.

"It was just bad luck that she got that Temari girl for an opponent." Gai said to him and he nodded.

"Give my apologies to Lee will you sensei?" Neji told him not looking at the man. "I want to make sure she's well so I will most likely miss his match."

Gai smiled at the boy before him, "Now there is the true spirit of youth, looking out for your comrade shows the fire burns bright in you my young student. I'm proud to see it!"

Neji sighed as she shut his eyes; he just wished that Gai wouldn't make such a big deal of things. As he walked off silently to ensure that Tenten would be okay he did cast a look and locked eyes with the Suna girl. He gave her a cold look, he made a vow that if he met her in the finals, and he would avenge Tenten's defeat by that girl's hands.

**Ino Yamanaka vs Ami**

Ino wasn't sure what to expect when she got into the arena with the Mist girl, but after seeing what the girl's teammate had done to Kiba she wasn't taking any chances.

"So this is my opponent, some frail looking girl playing ninja?" Ami smirked at the shorter girl in front of her.

"What did you say!?" Ino yelled out. "I'll have you know I come from a long line of ninja!"

"Your ancestors must weep themselves to sleep every day then," Ami said in a deadpan expression.

Ino had a facial tick at that point, there was no way she was going to let this dark haired girl say things like that. Although she too was wearing bandages hers looked strangely different to Ino. She couldn't place it but whatever it was she was sure it wouldn't be much.

"Fine then, here I come!" Ino yelled out as she threw two kunai, Ami pulled out two and deflected them with two of her own.

The two started with using taijutsu against each other, Ino was about average with it but the other girl trained a lot harder than Ino did. Soon the blonde girl had to keep her distance from the other girl's attacks.

Ino knew that she had no genjutsu, and her only ninjutsu besides the academy stuff, was her family jutsus. If only she could use them but there was a major problem with that, Ino had to get her to stand still, in order to use her mind jutsus. It was the main weakness in them, plus the other major one being that if she missed, her body would be defenceless. Given what that guy had tried to do with Kiba she didn't feel like getting killed while knocked out.

"Ami, stop playing around." Gendo called out.

"I was just starting to have some fun too," Ami pouted a bit. She unwrapped the bandages on her arms and Ino was left wondering what was going on, that is until they shot out at her. Ino dodged them but felt a sharp pain on the side of her face. She reached up and felt blood as her eyes widened.

"My bandages are special, they have thin wires woven into them turning them into both armour and weapons." Ami grinned as she pushed out her hands as many different strands fly out at Ino. Ino tried to dodge but there were just too many, and she didn't have enough speed to help herself out. Cut after cut was forming on her body, nothing fatal but Ino had a feeling the other girl was enjoying it.

Sakura's hands tightened on the rail watching the girl that was her best friend being cut to pieces. Ino was like the sister she never had, but to see her like this all bloody made her surprisingly angry. She wanted to jump down there and stop it but it would disqualify Ino and possibly herself, but she was prepared to do it anyway and damn the consequences.

"Asuma won't let it go too far," Kakashi said not even looking at her almost as if he was reading her mind. "We jonin wouldn't let our students die unnecessarily. We put you all into harms way to prepare you for your life as a ninja, but we are always try to ensure that it's not something you can't handle."

Ino was starting to feel weak, she could feel the stinging cuts all over her body, and the warm fluid of her own blood. She couldn't last much longer at this rate, she was losing too much blood.

"I think it's time to finish this, I've had my fun." Ami smirked as her bandages shot out and managed to grab Ino's arms and legs. She cried out as the material started to cut into her arms.

"Well that's it." Shikamaru sighed. "She can't get out and she can't quit. That girl is going to cut her limbs off." He looked to their sensei and he sighed and nodded.

"I agree," Asuma said. He had hoped that Ino would have done better, but this Mist girl was just too much for her. "Proctor, as sensei for Ino, I call my right to forfeit in her place."

"Very well then," the Proctor said. "The winner of this match is Ami, you can let the girl got now before I kick you out."

Ami sneered as she let the blond girl fall to the ground. Asuma and Sakura were the first to run towards the girl. Sakura hadn't seen so much blood in a very long time, to make it worse it was all Ino's. "Will she make it?" She asked the medics that ran out to her.

"She's lost a lot of blood," one of them said putting in a blood pill into Ino's mouth. It would help restore her blood loss for a bit but she would need a transfusions. "If we hurry she shouldn't be too bad."

Sakura sighed as she watched them cover Ino's wounds and wrap her up. Only to leave Ino's blood staining the floor. Sakura glared angrily at the Mist girl as she just walked off like it was nothing.

**Gaara vs Akuma**

The Mist ninja stared at the younger boy, although for some reason he was getting an uneasy feeling about him. There was just something about the boy, the eyes were those of a killer that he was sure of. But his body language told him that he didn't care one way or another about this fight. He was a strange one but he decided to test out this boy's abilities first. As soon as the match started he threw out several kunai to see what the boy would do, he was surprised to see a wall of sand suddenly show up out of nowhere and stop them.

The boy hadn't even moved a muscle, to have that kind of control over something without moving was already telling the Mist ninja much.

"Well then, let's if you can hit what you can't see," Akuma smirked as he started to make hand seals. As soon as he had finished the arena floor was being covered in mist.

"Hey I remember that!" Naruto yelled out.

"Yes, it's a move that comes from the Mist village after all," Kakashi said as he watched them. "This should be interesting to see how this plays out."

Akuma knew that the boy wouldn't be able to see him coming, he practiced being a silent killer and now he was putting it to use. He quickly and quietly ran up to the boy ready to strike, but still the sand was blocking him. Every blow he threw, somehow the other boy was able to get the sand back up. It didn't make sense, the Suna boy shouldn't have been able to see him, he was sure the other boy couldn't smell or hear him so how was did he do it?

As the mist started to fade Akuma looked hard at the other boy and then he noticed something.

"Looks like you'll be slowing down some," Akuma said seeing his sand. "Sand isn't a good thing to mix with the water that's in the air from my mist fog. So let's see what happens if we use a lot more water."

Akuma went through the seals and called up a water dragon missile, the large dragon was formed out of the water that was still in the area. A true master of this could use the condensation in the air to form it but there were still plenty of water molecules left over to use as well. The giant dragon shot out at Gaara as his sand went to protect him out of instinct.

"There, let's see you use your sand when it's nothing but mud," Akuma ran forward not letting Gaara take a breather. Already he could see the sand had been turned into mud from the water it absorbed.

Gaara had been taken by surprise, there was little water in the desert and the mud, although he could feel it, was heavy and sluggish. He couldn't move it fast enough to stop the boy from landing a punch at his face. The Mist ninja didn't stop as he continued to pummel on Gaara. He kept trying to move the sand but it was useless while wet. He called forth fresh sand from his gourd and went on the offensive against the Mist ninja.

"So that's what's in there, then I guess I'll have to do better than that." He grinned at Gaara. He went into more hand seals. "Water canon jutsu!"

With that he opened his mouth as a stream of water shoot out at Gaara, when he was soaked Akuma went in for the kill. He pulled out a kunai and with a slash went for Gaara's neck. There was silence for a moment as a line was shown on Gaara's neck but no blood. Everyone was confused as to how he wasn't bleeding. Then sand started to seep out of the wound as it closed up.

"The hell, you have sand inside your body or something!?" Akuma asked out loud.

"Hey is that even possible?" Naruto asked his father.

Kakashi thought about it, "Somehow I doubt it. Look at the skin where he was punched, there is no bruising yet. My best guess is that he's got another layer of sand that is covering his skin like a second line of defence. I have to admit this genin has one of the most impressive defences I've even seen."

"So he's going to lose?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not sure, it depends on if he can get on the offensive."

Akuma was getting frustrated now, just how much water did he have to dunk on this red headed boy to get past that damn sand? Well at any rate it didn't matter, if he had to drain his chakra and pour a lake onto him he would do it.

Meanwhile Gaara had his own plan, ever since the first time his sand was wet he had been slowly leaking his sand under the arena. Sand could be made from a lot of things, including crushed rock. When he realised that his sand had a weakness to water he came up with a plan. Slowly his sand had been crushing the rock under their feet to create a large amount of sand under them. He couldn't wait to see his enemy's blood. This one was proving more challenging than most but he was still nothing to him.

Asuma made it only a few steps back before the ground under him fell apart and sand came up from the ground to surround his body.

Gaara grinned manically at the ninja as the sand stared to envelop him. "You weren't too bad, Mother now wants your blood."

"What the hell are you, some kind of bloodline freak like most of the ninja in this weak village?" Akuma said as she struggled to get out. That kind of control over sand wasn't natural, he knew what the boy had done but to take all those hits, fight and still do this was insane.

"No, I'm something worse," Gaara told him as he raised a hand. "Sand Coffin."

The sand completely covered the Mist ninja now, Gaara then closed his fist as he said 'Sand Burial' and the sand contracted. The ninja was instantly crushed by the pressure of the sand. Blood stained it as more blood was literally squished out of the sand like toothpaste. The arena floor was covered in blood now. The sand receded and what was left of the ninja couldn't even be called a human corpse anymore.

The sickening display made many uncomfortable, only the hardened adult ninjas could really stand the sight. Although the two surviving Mist ninja didn't look pleased as all, they looked at Gaara with naked hatred at the death of their teammate but didn't say or do anything.

Gaara took his sand back into the gourd on his back as he calmly walked up the stairs with a bored look on his face.

"W-What the hell?" Choji asked feeling very sick. It was only luck he hadn't thrown up at what had happened. Hinata had passed out with Kurenai looking over her. The others were just as unnerved. Sasuke knew a strong opponent when he saw one, but he also noticed the Gaara and the Mist ninja wouldn't hesitate to kill. He remembered his own first time killing, had he really been like that? Looking back on the incident he knew now why Kakashi had taken him aside for that talk. Looking at those three he could see the kind of people you became when killing was nothing to you.

Sakura was next to him barely able to stand, her legs felt week and watching the medics take away the remains wasn't pleasant. It was another cold reminder of the life she chose for herself, that one day she or someone she knew could end up just like that.

**Kankuro vs Rock Lee**

"Yes finally!" Lee shouted out with joy. All this time he had wanted to join in and fight and finally he was getting his chance. "I've been waiting so very long to show the world the burning flames of my youth!"

"That's right Lee, show them all the power of youth!" Gai said to him.

"Gai sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Hey, we doing this or not?" Kankuro yelled out as he waited for the strange green glad boy to get down to the arena. Where all the ninja in his village freaks or something? At any rate by the time the kid had reached the arena he was already getting bored.

Lee was totally prepared for a fight, he got into his usual stance as he waited to begin. As soon as the match started he ran towards his opponent, he sent a flying kick to Kankuro's stomach, followed by a barrage of punches. A normal human would have been hurt by such blows but something was wrong, the older Suna boy was still standing.

Lee stood there unable to see how the boy had just shrugged off his attacks like they were nothing.

"Is that all you got, man you're weak." Kankuro laughed at him.

"I do not know how you were able to take those blows but there is only one thing that I can do. I have to hit even harder and faster than before!" Lee shouted out as he became even faster and the blows were shattering. In fact they did shatter a part of Kankuro's face right off leaving a brown wooden thing under it.

"Damn, didn't know you could hit that hard." Kankuro said as the object that was wrapped up on his back suddenly unwrapped itself. It was then that the real Kankuro came out and the one that Lee had been fighting shed its disguise. Kankuro hadn't expected the boy to start damaging his puppet like that, if the fight continued as it did, then he would have lost as his puppet couldn't use many of its special techniques while it was disguised.

So it was time to take the fight to the next level and he was just fine with that as he unleashed his favorite puppet to date.

The puppet was called, Karasu. It had three eyes, four arms with a tattered cloak. Kankuro with his hands sent his best puppet after Lee. He was surprised by the speed the other kid was moving at, but his puppet had surprises of its own. The arms suddenly shot out to try and trap Lee in their grasp, but he was very agile. He jumped into a handstand and pushed off and as soon as he landed jumped again.

"Damn it, stand still!" Kankuro was trying to keep up but the green kid was fast. "To hell with it then."

Karasu's mouth opened up as black smoke came out at Lee. The smoke quickly covered the distance but Lee didn't let it touch him, he did a powerful jump off the ground and actually sailed over the smoke. But Kankuro was prepared, he had Karasu's mouth open and deadly needles covered in toxins flew at Lee. Most of them missed but Kankuro smiled as a few hit the boy in the leg warmers.

"Good that should slow you down." Kankuro yelled out happily to see Lee finally come to a rest on top of the giant stone hands. But something was wrong the boy wasn't going down at all. "What the hell, you should have dropped by now, there is now way you can withstand the toxins I put onto those."

Gai was proud of his student, he only had his taijutsu but he used it to its fullest. Although he was confident that Lee wouldn't have to go all out, if he kept fighting like this he would be taken out of the competition. Perhaps it was time to show them the full power of Lee's youthful flames.

"Lee, I think it's time to take them off." Gai told him.

Lee was surprised that his teacher would say that. "But Gai-sensei, you told me to only to do that as a last resort."

"I know but there are exceptions and this is one of those times. So take them off and show the world the power of youth and hard work!" Gai gave him the thumbs up.

Lee smiled brightly at this he could finally go all out. He pulled down the leg warmers, being mindful of taking off the needles. He took off the leg weights and he could already feel light as a feather now. Now Kankuro knew why the darts didn't affect him, they had hit those damn weights. Well he was just going to have to make sure his aim was better next time.

"Man I wonder how much he's put on since the last time we sparred?" Naruto thought as Lee let them go. When they hit the floor they hit the force of two small bombs, the entire place literally shook.

"What the hell!?" Naruto yelled out at the insane amount of weight that Lee was using.

Kakashi sighed, now thanks to Gai he had a feeling that Naruto and Sasuke would want their weights increased until they could reach that level. He would have to 'thank' Gai properly later for that.

Lee suddenly disappeared in a green blur as he moved faster than most eyes would track. He was certainly faster than Kankuro could track. He tried the smoke again but Lee just blew right through it like the wind. He gritted his teeth as he tried to track Lee's movements, he had his puppet send the arms everywhere he could and fire the toxin darts out of the mouth. He was hoping for a lucky shoot to at least slow the boy down.

It didn't work.

Lee suddenly appeared right in front of Kankuro and in a low stance. Kankuro knew this was the worst thing for a puppet user, the biggest weakness was that if an opponent could get past the puppet, then the user was totally defenceless. He tried to get away and get his puppet to attack Lee from behind but it was too late.

Lee gave a solid kick to Kankuro's chin sending him flying up into the air. Lee jumped up and gave another kick to the small of the back and somehow, he twisted in midair and slammed his leg into the boy's chest. Kankuro rocketed to the ground and slammed hard into the floor. Lee stood ready for more but it looked like Kankuro wasn't going to get up anytime soon after that combo.

"The winner of the final round, is Rock Lee." The Proctor proclaimed. "Finally we can start into the third part of the exam."

**Next up chapter 53: Preparations**

**Well so sorry, the fights took longer than I thought to fit them all in, plus a few other things kept getting in the way. Now that, that is out of the way I can get back to some fun.**


	53. Preparations

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 53: Preparations **

With the fights over the winners were gathered up in front of the giant statue of the hands, the Hokage as well as the jonins were all there as the final part was done. Everyone would be gotten a random number for the next round of fights. One by one the genins went up and took a green ball with a number on it. Once they called out their number their name was written on a board that had been brought in. Once the names were placed it was then that everyone could see their matches.

First final matches would be Sakura vs Ami, Naruto vs Gendo, Lee vs Dosu, Sasuke vs Gaara, Neji vs Shino, and finally Temari vs Shikamaru.

Neji didn't look too happy about that as he had wanted the Suna girl, but if he defeated Shino he could fight her if she won. Then again the fact he was up against Shikamaru could easily mean that she would win. He had nothing against the boy, it was just that Shikamaru was the laziest and undisciplined genin he had ever seen. The girl was obviously the total opposite so the odds were in favour of him meeting up with her.

The Mist ninja didn't look even phased by the death of their comrade, they did give cold looks to Gaara who just ignored them. Both of them were hoping to fight Gaara in the final rounds, although no one knew how Mist really operated other than Mist ninja, but failure was not tolerated. The fact that one of their own was killed only meant that he was weak and would have died at any rate. He should have tried to take the Suna boy down with him as the Mist didn't shy away from death.

Out of all the greater ninja nations, they were the smallest but it wasn't the face they were an island country, or their location, that kept them save and a force to be feared, it was how they fought. They fought with embracing death. They killed without hesitation, attacked without worrying about their own safety. If death was assured then you were to take your enemy to hell with you. That is what it meant to be a Mist ninja, you were to become demons and monsters of death and mayhem.

That was why they were one of the strongest, and why no one had invaded their lands in a long time. Because everyone knew that you would have to pay in blood for every inch you stepped.

After the Hokage dismissed them the teams were filling out of the area. A safe path would be given to the teams for the quickest way out of the forest but Kakashi had other things to do at the moment. So far he had to trail all three of his students for the final round. He had been thinking on this, each student would need to be trained individually in order to win and even survive this. Kakashi didn't like that two of his genins were going up against those Mist genins. Plus Sasuke just had to get that Gaara kid as well. At any rate he wouldn't be able to split his attention between all three and still get them ready.

He moved off to make sure that he would be able to get at least one student training by someone he trusted.

"Anko can I speak with you?" Kakashi asked as he walked up to his girlfriend.

"Sure what is it?"

"I need a favour."

She smirked at him, "Again, well just because we're dating doesn't mean its for free. So what do you need me for?"

"I want you to train Sakura for me for the month," Kakashi said to her. "I have a new Justus that she can learn and she'll need to learn them. I can't teach her but you can, plus I think she looks up to you. Also I know you can help her out and I trust you."

Anko was surprised by this and felt happy that he was trusting her with one of his genins. Sure she had helped out before but this was a bit more different, he was placing the life of his genin in her hands. She had seen what that Ami kid had done. Sakura would need to really get some training in, to survive a fight with that girl. Plus she had to admit the pink haired girl had been impressing her lately. First in the forest and now in the arena, she was curious as to what the girl could do if really pushed hard.

"You know what, I'll do it for free. I like the girl and tell her that in a couple of days I'll come by her place. I need to get a training area ready first so I hope she doesn't mind."

Kakashi nodded, "That's good a couple of days is all I need to set things up. Thanks."

"Not a problem." She grinned at him.

Now with that out of the way he needed to track down the person he wanted to train Naruto, plus he needed him to take a look at that seal on Naruto's stomach. He had gotten lucky with the opponent but he could already see that people were giving him questioning looks. It had to be hard to keep that a secret from everyone and if this kept up, they might figure it out. But it was Naruto's choice to tell them he wouldn't interfere. Sometimes a parent had to let a child make their own choices in life. It was the only way to truly learn and grow at times.

**-Forest of Death Tower: Hospital area-**

The Tower had its own medical area given that this place was designed for holding battles. Each person was given their own room so that each person would heal in peace. Once they were stabilized they would be moved to the main hospital in the village for further care. At this moment Neji was standing outside the room for Tenten, he had been waiting for over an hour before the medics told him that he could visit her but only for an hour. She needed her rest after they had fixed her up.

Neji saw Lee and Gai as well but Gai just gave him a thumbs up. Neji sighed as he went in and gently went to the single bed in the small room. Tenten was lying in the bed, the medics had taken her hair out of the buns and it was all loose. He felt his cheeks heat up as he looked at her, she had a few bandages here and there but she looked peaceful like that. Even kind of, beautiful.

He shook himself out of it as he tried to think of something else.

"Neji?" Tenten's voice called out to him. He looked to see her eyes were open as looking at him. When their eyes locked she suddenly looked away, almost in shame. "I can't believe I lost so badly."

"I thought I already told you that I was proud of how fierce you fought?" Neji said as he took the seat next to her bed.

"I know but still…I thought I was better then that." Tenten sighed, she wouldn't feel like this if she had only done better. There was nothing wrong with losing but losing that badly had hurt her pride as a ninja.

Neji knew how prideful she was, her ambition was to be as famous as the great Tsunade after all. He wasn't sure what to say, he wasn't that great when it came to personal stuff. "Tenten, we all think you did your best and we're all proud. The only thing you can do now is learn from it and get stronger."

Tenten looked up at the ceiling as she thought about that, it was true that she could learn something from this. She needed to come up with a way to get around that hole in her technique.

"It seems I'm fighting Shino but if I pass him then I'll be fighting the Suna girl most likely." Neji told her. "I'm not sure how to beat her but there is a month to plan for that. However there is the problem with Shino, with his bugs he can attack on multiple angles. There is a technique I could do, but I'll need you're help with it."

"My help?" She blinked at him.

He nodded, "I need someone I trust and whose skills are perfect for this. I need your strength in order to win, plus I'm sure between us we could think of something to deal with that girl's wind attacks."

Tenten felt her cheeks heat up slightly, he wanted to train with just her, for a full month? "You sure you want me?"

He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently, "There is no one else I would want."

Sakura had to wait even longer than Neji did, given that Ino had been even more injured. After being told that Anko would be her sensei for the month she had been a bit excited at that. But now she was just filled with worry, her oldest friend was laying in there and she felt so helpless. She wanted to be able to help but what could she do? Once again people around her were injured and she could do nothing. It was like the forest all over again, she only knew the basics that were taught in school about first aid. Not how to stop bleeding wounds, blood loss and major injuries.

She caught a waste basket to the side, there were bloody bandages that hadn't been thrown out yet, a feeling of throwing up nearly came to her. But she quickly put it down, now wasn't the time and she needed to see Ino first. She was asleep by the looks of it and she just sat there looking at her best friend in the world. She looked paler than normal and she was breathing deep, most likely she was under some kind of medication.

Sakura gently touched her friends hand with hers. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I'll get that girl back for this. I'm going to train hard this month and I will beat her, you have my promise on that."

After Sakura left she felt a new determination to avenger her friend, she saw her team had been waiting and nodded to them as they went in to check on her. Sakura found her team waiting around for Kakashi to show up. She cast a look to her teammates, she was a little worried about both of them for different reasons. But it was Naruto that had her concerned the most.

"So how is Ino doing?" Naruto asked.

"Better, but she lost a lot of blood. They want to keep her overnight to let her body rest before moving her." Sakura remembered the old bloody bandages she had seen. "She was so lucky, if that girl had cut into her wrists or something she would have bleed to death."

"Man these Mist guys are pissing me off," Naruto said angrily. "I mean what they tried to pull with Kiba and now Ino. Plus they weren't concerned at all that one of their teammates was killed."

"They obviously don't care about their teammates," Sasuke spoke up as he thought about it. "Remember that story Kakashi-sensei told us about how it used to be called the Blood Mist? I get the feeling that it's everyone for themselves there, it hasn't been that long and depending on who trained them, if they're from that older generation like Zabuza..."

He left it hanging as that reminded them of their encounter, they couldn't speak out about it just in case someone overheard. But they all remembered how Zabuza had been a very cold person before he had a change of heart. It might be a good thing that the Mist sensei hadn't been seen, not all genins had their sensei with them. After all with all the other teams here they had only seen one sensei from Suna. Even Kabuto's team didn't seem to have one with them.

"Well we got a month to train for them," Sasuke commented as the others nodded with that.

Sakura looked to Naruto, he seemed a bit better now than he had been earlier. She figured that maybe she could ask him what was bothering him and what was going on.

"Hey Naruto, do you want to talk about what happened?" She asked gently.

"W-What do you mean?" He asked trying to feign ignorance.

"She means the weird feeling you gave off in the forest and what happened with that guy you fought." Sasuke said point plank, he never was one to dance around a topic. He too had started to notice the odd things with Naruto and he didn't like people keeping secrets from him.

Naruto wasn't sure what to do at the moment he had thought about telling them the true many times, but honestly it's not something you can just tell people. He was still debating telling Hinata in fact he felt she had more of a right to know. He was in a relationship with her now so he had to tell her at some point, but there was still that fear of what would people think of his secrets. He didn't like it but sometimes you couldn't just tell people everything. He looked at his two teammates and knew that he couldn't keep them in the dark eventually.

Sakura could see that this was really bothering Naruto, he always seemed so sure of himself but now being so lost on what to do, she felt a bit bad putting him in a spot like this.

"Naruto you know you can trust us with anything right?" Sakura told him. "We wouldn't think anything less of you but if you don't want to tell us you don't have to. But just remember that we're your friends and always will be okay?"

Okay, now Naruto felt both bad and keeping his secrets and guilty. After everything they had gone through they did deserve to know something, what kind of friend would he be? He needed time to think, both on what to do and what to tell them, let alone how to tell them. It's not like you can just blurt out the biggest secrets you had. Maybe he could finally tell someone, this secret was like the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Guys I know you're my team and I want to tell you...but it's kind of hard for me." Naruto said softly.

"So there is something," Sasuke commented as he sighed. "Well whatever, everyone is entitled to their personal lives but this isn't something we have to worry about is it?"

"No, in fact I only found out not too long ago," He figured that if they could understand a bit they might accept that much. At least for now they might. "But I can't speak about it in a place like this, too many people could hear it."

"Well...when you're ready we will be there to listen okay?" Sakura said with a smile.

Naruto looked at the two of them and he felt a bit better that they were patience with him. He smiled under his mask and nodded.

"Ah there you all are," Kakashi said walking up to them. "I managed to get things settled, so everyone meet me tomorrow at the usual time and place. Also Naruto, I will be working late on something so please don't wait up."

"Something important?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi nodded, "Just something to help deal with Sasuke's little problem with that mark. I would have done it sooner but staying around here and looking for help in training you all, well I got behind in my work."

"Help with our training?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi nodded, "Yes, I can't train all three of you. So I'll be training Sasuke, I hope you don't mind Naruto but I've trained you for your entire life and I felt you needed someone else's help for once. Don't worry the man I picked will certainly help you beat that guy you're up against."

'_At least I hope I can find him, I know he's here but I need to make sure that I give Naruto a good teacher. Also I'm pretty sure I can convince him to train Naruto.'_ Kakashi thought to himself.

" As for Sakura, I hope you don't mind who I picked. She's very interested in training you for the month, also I'll be giving you some jutsu scrolls. It's time you learned to harness your elemental chakra and if I remember you tested as water."

"It should be very surprising to be able to use that against your opponent as I bet she won't be expecting that." Kakashi concluded.

Sakura grinned at that, anything that would help her was welcomed.

**-Elsewhere-**

It hadn't been easy for Kakashi to find him, he had considered using his dogs to find him but honestly he was still trying to avoid high chakra use, and summoning wasn't easy on your chakra. So he resorted to the old fashion way. He went looking for where any pervert would be, the adult book store was a bust and he had to force himself not to stay too long in there. Then there were the parks, public pool, but the hot springs was when he had finally found him. For a normal person or even an average ninja he would have been hard to spot, but Kakashi wasn't called a genius as a child for nothing.

There behind the wall of the women's section hidden behind some realistic looking bushes was Jiraiya as he was looking through a small peephole that he obvious had made. He giggled as he stop to write something down. Kakashi slowly made his way up behind him, he figured the man's attention was totally on the women.

"So how did the kid do? I heard you ran into some trouble in the forest." Jiraiya said not looking up from his notes.

Kakashi blinked in surprise, obviously even at least fifty the man's skills hadn't lessened. Well the man was a legend for a reason.

"Yes, Orochimaru was in the Forest of Death and I got the injuries to prove it." Kakashi tried not to clench his teeth at the thought of what the man had done to his genins and Anko. "He also put a curse mark on Sasuke."

That got Jiraiya to stop writing he knew a serious topic when one came up. "What do you plan on doing with that? Even I can't get rid of those damn things. I tried once with that girlfriend of yours when she first got back."

Kakashi was yet again surprised, "She never mentioned that."

"Oh she didn't know, as she hadn't been conscious at the time. They weren't sure of her loyalties that early on." He sighed remembering that day. He had been found and brought back to take a look at the seal when the girl was unconscious. He tried a few things but whatever Orochimaru had been playing around with wasn't anything he had seen before.

"Well I plan on putting a seal around it, it should help him at least control it from activating." Kakashi told him and he nodded his head. "Also I'm here on a more personal matter."

"What's that?"

"I want you to train Naruto for the month," Kakashi said simply. "I can't train them all, I got Anko training Sakura and I need to train Sasuke as there are only a few things that only I can teach him. He'll need them to survive. Naruto's fight is going to be deadly and I need you to train him for me."

"What's the worst that can happen?"

Kakashi gave him a serious look, "He's up against a Mist member and they are out to prove something."

Jiraiya groaned in disgust, if a Mist ninja wasn't bad enough, one with something to prove was even worse.

"Plus I need you to take a look at him as well, Orochimaru did something to the seal."

Those words made Jiraiya drop his note pad, to mess with the seal that Minato put on Naruto was insane. Not even he knew the full extend of the seal, as it was the most complex and brilliant design he had ever seen. Sure he could copy the effects but there was something about the seal that eluded him. Then again, Minato had been a true genius with seals and ninjutsu. Someone like him only game maybe once a hundred years. But the fact that Orochimaru would do something so dangerous just proved how insane his team mate had gone.

"What are the effects?" Jiraiya asked as he got his pad off the grass.

"He seems to have trouble moulding his chakra."

Jiraiya thought about it, only a few things could do that, thankfully nothing came to mind that was dangerous like releasing that damn Fox demon among them again. Well he would have to deal with his, he couldn't have Orochimaru screwing around with things like that at any rate. Plus the boy was interesting, he still remembered their 'first' meeting at these hot springs. The kid was something to say the least. He planned on training the boy anyway when the time was right, in Minato's memory but it looked like he would have to start off a bit more earlier than he had planned.

"Have him meet me here tomorrow and I'll get started." Jiraiya said as he went back to looking at the beautiful women in the warm water again.

Kakashi only nodded as he left quietly, with that out of the way now he just needed to set up the seal for Sasuke that he would use tomorrow. He sighed, it was a long day and already it wasn't over with yet.

**-Outside the Hatake home-**

Naruto sighed as he walked home, he didn't really feel like eating only sleeping for a day. He was wondering what his dad would be doing but decided that he would find out soon enough. Plus he had to sleep on what he was going to do with his secret. Then there was this mysterious trainer, who was his dad going to pick? Was it someone that he knew like a jonin or someone special? He tried to think of what could possibly be the new trainer but honestly he wasn't sure. The only thing he knew was that it was a guy and that was it.

"N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto nearly jumped at the sound of Hinata's soft voice, he was surprised to find her behind him. He must have really been out of it to not notice her of all people. Suddenly he felt a lot happier seeing her there. "Hey there Hinata-chan, sorry you didn't pass but that was one hell of a fight. I'm sure you'll be a lot strong next time!"

Hinata gave a soft smile at this, he always was behind her even in her defeats. "T-thank you, I decided that I didn't want to fall behind so I'm having Kurenai-sensei train me. Shino-kun is training with his family and I wanted to learn more than just my family style. Kurenai sensei said she would agree but I came here for another reason."

"Oh?" Naruto wondered what it could be, then again he had the home alone maybe she wanted to make out? He grinned at the thought of them on the couch together for who knows how long.

"M-My father wants you over for dinner," Hinata said bursting his bubble. "He knows that we're dating and wants to meat you."

"But he already knows me." Naruto said confused.

She looked down playing with her fingers when she was really nervous about something. "No, I mean in a more, professional point. As in he wants to talk about us with you."

"Oh...that kind of dinner," Naruto said in a very defeated tone. He knew that kind of thing might happen but he had hoped that since Hiashi knew him so well he might let it slid. Apparently not and now he had to do this as well.

Hinata nodded, "If you can, can you make it tomorrow night? I know the training might start then but after that night we might not see each other for over a month." She looked a bit depressed at this and he suddenly realised that this would be a month without his girlfriend.

'_Oh man this is going to be a very long month,'_ Naruto thought. _'If I want to see her one last time then I have to go through with this and get it over with at the same time.'_

"Is this formal?" He asked with a sigh.

"He insisted," Hinata told him.

Naruto hung his head in defeat, "I'll be there by seven."

Hinata looked up happy that he would agree and hugged him tightly. He felt how her body pressed up against him. He also couldn't help but remember what she looked like in a swimsuit and out of it and what was pressed up against him. Well, maybe it wasn't all bad if he got hugs from her at least.

"Thank you so much." She told him smiling.

He couldn't help but smile back, "Well anything for my girlfriend right, what kind of boyfriend would I be?"

She giggled at him happy that he would agree to this, she just hoped her family would behave.

**Chapter 54: Meet the Trainers**


	54. Meet the trainers

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 54: Meet the Trainers**

The next day saw all of Team 7 gathered around their usual training area. Each one was wondering what was going to happen that day. Well that and both Sakura and Sasuke noticed that Naruto was nervous, they just didn't know what he was nervous about. After ten minutes of him pacing, Sasuke had enough and decided to get down to what was bothering Naruto.

"What the hell is with you?" Sasuke asked annoyed. "You act like the end of the world is coming or something."

Naruto paused as he looked to his friends, he still wasn't sure to tell them his big secrets even after a fitful sleep. He had been tossing and turning nearly all night with what to do with them, Hinata and the dinner coming up. Then there was the training and his match against that Mist guy as well. All in all this was the most stressful time in his young life and he was not enjoying it, _he_ was the one that usually gave other people stress damn it.

"Hinata asked me to go to her family's place for dinner, apparently her dad wants to talk with me." He sighed.

"Oh." Was Sasuke's only response, he guessed that would explain things.

"Well at least Hinata's father likes you right?" Sakura knew that Naruto had been on good terms with the Hyuga for years now. She still remembered visiting him in the hospital that one time when Hinata was nearly kidnapped. In fact thinking back on it, hadn't he said something about getting stabbed in the chest? That had been a very long time ago but she was sure that's what he said, she remembered the bandages on his chest. But he had no scar on his chest, she had seen him when they all went swimming that one day, and there was no indication of a scar. She had completely forgotten about that until now, was this another thing to do with his big secret?

She wouldn't push him on it, but looking back there were certainly some odd things about Naruto's health. He never had a sick day, not once while in school. Any injuries he did have seemed to be gone the next day, she hadn't thought much about them as he just claimed he was a fast healer. But scars like the one that should be on his chest don't just 'heal', at least not normally.

'_Naruto, what are you keeping from us and will you ever trust us to tell us?'_ Sakura thought and she hoped one day he would.

Naruto himself was deep in thought about tonight, he didn't know why he was so nervous it wasn't like Hiashi would forbid him from seeing Hinata, would he? The man was the head of the clan so it was possible he could order her not to. He was taken out of that line of thought as a familiar sense of dread came over him. His instincts kicked in as he moved just enough to let a kunai pass back his cheek.

There was only one person that kept on trying to 'toy' with him like that ever since he had started to wear the masks, which she started anyway!

"Damn it stop doing that!" Naruto yelled at the trees as Anko jumped down grinning at him.

"Aw, but it's just so cute how angry you get squirt." She laughed a little.

"Well I don't like you ruining my masks!

Anko just brushed it off as she walked over to Sakura and looked her over, "Well, looks like you and me will be spending a lot of time together. Now let me just say, I won't go easy on you and this month will be most likely the most gruelling and tough month of your life. So I want you to give me everything you got and then some, I want you to keep training until you puke blood and then get back up for more, got me?"

Sakura gulped and nodded her head, not really trusting her voice. When Anko got serious she could be very intimidating.

Anko gave her a long look as if she was judging Sakura, which in a way she was, she was trying to see if the girl really meant it. The body seemed weak but the girl's green eyes had that spark of fire in thatm. That was good, she would need that for the month. "I'll hold you to that."

"So everyone is here," Kakashi said as he and an older man with long spiky white hair came walking to them. Sasuke and Sakura didn't know the strange man, but Anko had a look of surprise on her face. Even with her ninja training she couldn't wipe the surprise off it, it wasn't every day you meet one of the Legendary Three. She had only met Tsunade once, when she was first brought back after being found. Then her old Sensei being another, it was rare to be able to say you meet all three, at least for those in her generation that is.

Naruto however did know who this was as he got a smile under his mask as he pointed at the all man. "Ero-sennin! I haven't seen you since me and Konohamaru ran into you!"

Kakashi gave the old man an amused look, "Ero-sennin, huh?"

"Couldn't you have taught him some manners?" Jiraiya muttered to the younger man.

Kakashi just shrugged, "Tried it and failed, so I gave up. It was too much energy as I doubt he would ever change besides he usually gives nicknames to those that are special to him so take heart with that."

Jiraiya gave a sour face, that wasn't much of a good thing. The least the boy could do was to give him at least a somewhat decent nickname.

"You know that guy?" Sasuke asked his blonde teammate.

"Yeah, I met him once before he's the guy that wrights those books of my dad's, I'm sure you remember, right?" Naruto grinned as Sasuke turned a slight shade of red. He never did forgive him for making him hear one of those books all those years ago.

"He's also one of the strongest ninja alive," Anko said as she swatted the back of Naruto's head lightly. "You should show some respect brat."

"Maybe when you stop acting crazy," Naruto muttered.

"What? Is that any way to talk back to me, I thought I was you're 'aunty Anko', or has that status been changed since I've been dating your dad?" Anko couldn't help but smirk as Naruto got very uncomfortable. It wasn't like he was against them dating in fact he actually liked the idea. But he just didn't like the mental pictures of them together alone, that came up. There were just some things a child didn't want to know about his father.

Kakashi walked over to Anko, he was glad to see her arm out of that sling although he could tell she was still hurting. Hell, he still was as well but they couldn't wait to get better, they might not be a full strength but they didn't have any time to waste. He dug out the scrolls that he had made for Sakura, she would need them.

"Here, these are for Sakura." He said handing them over. "She's a water type so I thought it would be good for her to use these."

Anko took them and placed them in her coat. "Sure thing, she'll need everything she can get."

She signed as a thought hit her, "A whole month apart, man this is going to just drag on."

He chuckled as he gave her that one eyed smile of his, "Yes it will but I can't wait until it's over so we can make up for the time."

She smirked as that thought brought a smile to her face. "Pervert."

"I thought you liked that part of me?" He whispered into her ear, he could see her trying not to shudder at the sensation of his breath there.

She ran a slender finger over his jaw line, "Who said I was complaining?" She could tease him just as much as he could. It would be a very long month, but she had a student to take her frustrations out on plus she was looking forward to when they were together again. Sure they hadn't dated much but they were still in that phase when everything was still new and exciting.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Naruto muttered deadpanned seeing them like that, he was too far away to hear what they were saying but you didn't need to hear with what he was seeing.

"I think it's cute," Sakura told him as she giggled at the sight, Sasuke just shrugged it off, he really wasn't the romantic type anyway. Jiraiya how ever was making some notes while no one was looking this was definitely going into his new book.

**-Sasuke-**

Sasuke wasn't sure what to think at first, Kakashi had led him into some underground chamber with torches lighting the area and then told to take his top off? If it had been anyone else, he would have had a very bad feeling about this. But as he did so he noticed that Kakashi was drawing on the ground. Sasuke watched as the jonin drew a seal but one he had never seen before. Then again, he didn't know much about seals. He was told to sit in the center and so he did so, it was cold and he wished he could at least put on a shirt.

Kakashi then took out some kind of ink as he started to make seals onto Sasuke's body. He was getting bored of just waiting around for this to finish so he figured he might be able to get some answers.

"So, this will help with that mark on my neck?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi nodded, "Yes, the barrier seal I'm putting on will help with the effects. But, it will only work as long as you will it too. It will work on your will power if you actually try to draw on the curse marks power it won't be effective."

That wasn't a problem, so far the thing was nothing but trouble, hell it was actually slowing his progress. He really needed this power to be controlled if he ever wanted to continue with this plans to find Itachi one day. There was something else that he had been thinking while in the silence.

"This power, is it anything like what Naruto has?" Sasuke asked as he looked for any kind of reaction but Kakashi just painted on like he hadn't even heard him. That actually kind of annoyed the boy, he had been hoping for some kind of reaction. "I don't know what it is, but both myself and Sakura know he's hiding something. He's got something hidden in the forest I noticed it. We don't know what but we guess he'll tell us when the time is right."

Kakashi was very silent for awhile and Sasuke guessed he was thinking on the subject, then without warning he spoke up. "I'm sure he will, when he's ready. Let me just say this, he had a weight of a mountain on his shoulders now and I hope you and Sakura will help him with his burden. I've tried but I can only do so much."

"I don't think I can do much for him," Sasuke said with a shrug, he couldn't guess what was going on but he doubted he could lend any kind of moral support. He had his own issues to deal with as it was.

"Actually you can, he does think very highly of you. He not only sees you as his rival, but as his best friend…well best male friend, I think Hinata won out years ago." Kakashi chuckled at that.

"Why?" Sasuke did consider Naruto a rival and a friend, although he would never admit the last on out loud.

"Because you two are a lot alike in some areas," Kakashi explained.

Sasuke snorted, "He's got a family and friends, what has he ever lost?" It came out a bit more bitter than he wanted to but to him there was no way anyone could understand the kind of pain he had to live with. The fact that the older brother he had idolized, the one that he wanted to be like more than anything, had done such horrible things. Sasuke's life had been torn down to nothing and he had to build it back up from the ground. It was a long and painfully lonely process, but he took strength that he wasn't broken.

"You're wrong," Kakashi said silently. "Naruto has lost, you see I don't think he's ever told you this but he's adopted. His parents were killed during the Nine-Tailes' attack all those years ago. They were his only family and he never got to know them, so you see when he found out he found out he had a hole in his life. I've tried to fill it, but I know what it's like to lose those you've never known. I don't remember my own mother and my father died when I was young."

Kakashi wasn't sure what made him tell this, but he felt that Sasuke needed to know, to see that others felt his pain as well. That maybe, he wasn't as alone as he thought he was in the world.

Sasuke for his part hadn't known anything about that, sure he had guessed that Naruto's mother had died, but he hadn't known that Naruto was adopted by Kakashi. He had always thought that Naruto just took after his mother in looks. With the mask and how he acted at times, everyone just assumed that he was Kakashi's son. He looked at his jonin teacher but the man just was continuing to paint on the seals.

"You knew his parents?"

Kakashi nodded, "They were as close to me as family, I took in Naruto to honor them. I was alone like you were at that age, but still I took on Naruto. I had no experience and was just a kid myself, it was a long struggle and it was most likely the hardest thing I've done. But in my darkest of hours, Naruto was the light that gave me hope and the strength to continue on."

"I would do everything all over again without even thinking, being a father has been one of the best and worst experiences of my life, filled with joy, happiness, sorrow, worry, and so many other things. But in the end it was all worth it. And I feel my life is richer for it."

Sasuke was lost in thought he knew the kind of darkness that you could live with, and he had lived with it for so long it had become natural to feel it. But then something had changed, ever since Team 7 was formed that darkness had slowly been lifting. He did feel better these days, with Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura, he felt bonds forming that he hadn't had in years. He was still lost in thought when Kakashi told him this next part might hurt.

"Wait, what did you say?" Sasuke asked not sure if he heard right, then the blinding pain as Kakashi applied the seal. He saw white flashes of light and his body felt like an electrical current was running through it, then he collapsed into the darkness.

**-Sakura-**

For Sakura she was led into a different training area, this was one she hadn't been in before as she followed Anko. There seemed to be various trees and rocks that were large enough to hide behind. In fact she saw how a few rocks had scratches and nicks from weapons most likely on them. There was also a decent size lake. Anko sat on one of the rocks as she took out the scrolls that Kakashi had given her.

"Okay then, seems like you're a water type. Well I only know fire jutsus so you're out of luck there, but I do know of someone that can help out. In fact when we got to talking we decided to train you and her student together since you're both water types."

"Someone else will be coming?" Sakura asked.

"Yep, and here they are now." Anko smiled as Sakura looked behind her.

Sakura was surprised to see none other than Hinata and Kurenai walking up to them. She hadn't known that Hinata was going to train with them, why was she training if she wasn't advancing? Well then again, thinking on it, it would be a good idea to keep training for the month, no need to slack off right? Plus maybe she was also trying to get better for next time, either way it would be nice to have the other girl around. Sakura was closer to Ino, but Hinata was the only other female friend she had growing up.

"So you're training with Kurenai-sensei? I thought you'd be training with your family?" Sakura asked Hinata.

"I-I felt that I wanted to broaden myself," Hinata said looking down as she played with her fingers. "I need more than just my gentle fist skills."

"Yes and since you're both water types we'll both be training you in how to use them," Kurenai said as she and Anko looked through the scrolls that Kakashi had made up.

"Yep, that is if you don't have any objections to Hinata learning from these," Anko asked.

"No not at all." Sakura told her honestly.

"Good," Anko was also glad for Kurenai agreeing to this, she had more experience in water chakra control plus she already had a team of her own. Sure, Anko trained with Sakura with the tonfas now and then but Anko had never trained anyone for this long a period. Anko looked over both girls, they would have to work on their strength and endurance for sure, Sakura she knew about but Hinata she didn't know as well. Maybe a friendly spar between the girls would help in seeing how they progressed now and then would help out.

"So, what's up first Anko-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Well first we're going for a run through the trees, well you two will be. First we'll see how fast you can do it, then how fast while being attacked, after that warm up we'll work on building up your chakra on the water as you two will spar." Anko told them as she got into her all business mode. She may joke around but when she got serious people listened to her. She didn't make special jonin at her age for being lazy.

"Next will be water chakra training," Kurenai told them both. "This will give us an idea of where to take things from then on for the rest of the month."

Both Sakura and Hinata hadn't expected all of this already, but they were determined not to be scared off by the work load so far.

"Oh by the way, you'll both be wearing these," Anko grinned as she pulled out a scroll of her own and unsealed the items within. Two small vests with pouches in the front and back landed with a heavy thud, the pouches held weights that could be exchanged with heavier ones if needed. There were also shoes but they looked heavier than the normal ones, lastly were arm bands that looked to be all metal. "We need to get you girls into shape and fast, Sakura since you've done slight weight training you'll know what to expect when you two put these one."

Sakura paled at the heavy equipment, she should have known there would be a catch.

"Well what are you waiting for!" Anko yelled out. "Hurry up and put them on already and get ready for some running!"

**-Naruto-**

Naruto followed Jiraiya to a river deep in one of the forested areas of Konoha. He could hear a water fall nearby and the place looked pretty deserted not to mention well isolated. He wondered what the old man could teach him, from the history-that which he had bothered to stay awake for-Jiraiya was said to be one of the strongest ninja not only in Konoha, but in the world. There was no telling how much the man knew and Naruto hoped he was going to get some kind of kickass move that would totally destroy that Mist ninja.

"Well first off take off the shirt and jacket kid."

"What!?"

"I have to check the seal, Kakashi told me what happened and I need to see if I can fix what was done." He told him, Naruto was happy to hear this as it was really starting to get in the way. He took the black vest off and then was the orange t-shirt. Jiraiya told him to get some chakra going and he looked at the stomach as the seal showed up. It was easy to find what Orochimaru had done, overall it wasn't as bad as he had feared. Minato's seal had an even number setup, but Orochimaru had placed an odd number onto it. This would conflict with the seal, like two opposing forces.

It wouldn't break or damage the seal thankfully, but the boy would have a hell of a hard time getting his chakra working properly. Most likely Orochimaru just did this as it was the quickest way to deal with Naruto. That was Orochimaru for you, no elegance at all in his work. Well this would be easy to fix, it wouldn't be comfortable though.

"Alright, I'm going to remove it but this might sting so just close your eyes." He told the kid.

"Whatever it takes just get that thing off me," Naruto sighed as he closed his eyes. Then he felt Jiraiya slamming his fingers into his stomach. It felt like each finger was like a fist punching him in the stomach and he was literally knocked from his feet. He landed seeing some stars for a couple of seconds before jumping back up.

"What the hell, you call that a 'sting'? That hurt like hell!" Naruto said rubbing his stomach.

"Just try to walk on that water if you know how to do it and see how it goes," Jiraiya told him.

Naruto grumbled as he went to the water, this was a skill he had learned thankfully. He took a step and found that it was a lot easier to get his chakra flowing right. He would feel the difference now as he jumped up with a shout. He tried making his shadow clones and suddenly twenty of them appeared, now this was more like it.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at that the kid certainly had a hell of a lot of chakra to pull that off. That many clones should have put a genin of his age into chakra exhaustion. "Hey kid, how many of those can you make?"

"Huh, well, I'm not sure." The real Naruto said scratching his head. "I've never tried to see how many I could make."

"Alright, first thing we need to see is how much chakra you actually got. I want you to keep making them until you're about to drop okay?"

Jiraiya watched as the boy made fifty clones, then eighty, then over a hundred, he lost count somewhere around two hundred and sixty, and he was still going. Even a full grown adult wouldn't have this kind of chakra reserves. He knew that the boy was slowly absorbing the Fox's chakra into his own but to have this much at his age? He quickly tried to calculate how much it would be when he was an adult and what he came up with was surprising. The boy would be able to do high level moves several times in a fight.

"Alright kid, I think I get the idea you can take them all away now," Jiraiya told him as the boy dispersed them all. After the smoke cleared he asked the boy what kind of Justus he had going for him, the two wind techniques were nice, although he could tell that the boy could use some work on it. The wind blade would be great to counter any water techniques. The boy also knew how to use that small sword he carried around on his back, apparently it was the sword of the White Fang himself, now fully restored. His hand to hand skills were above average, hell they weren't too bad actually although his style seemed to be a merger of several different ones, not to mention he made things up on the fly.

That was good being able to improvise in a fight was very handy to have. He had to admit, Kakashi had done well with the kid. He was definitely more than a genin at this point. For a moment he thought back to Minato, he hadn't been this excited to teach since that time. But as he continued to test the boy he did have some weaknesses, genjutsu seemed to be one of them. He didn't know much about that himself so they would have to skip that, chakra control seemed to be another. It was one of reasons he had trouble with the wind techniques apparently.

"So have you been training with chakra control kid?" He asked Naruto.

"Yeah but it's hard, dad says it's because of all my chakra."

Jiraiya nodded, "He's right about that, regular people have a decent flow like water pipes in a house, you're more like trying to control the flow of water from a dam. You got a lot more water and pressure behind it."

Naruto thought he got what the old guy was saying. "I wonder if that's why the balloon thing was so hard to do then?"

"Balloon thing?" Jiraiya asked curious as there was only one exercise that he knew. When Naruto explained he had to hide his surprise. Apparently Kakashi, had been teaching him the rasengan, or at least the first step. This changed some things, he had no idea that the boy had already gotten that far, he would have to see if he could get him to burst a rubber ball next. If only to see if he could do it, but then again he had a feeling this boy might surprise him.

"Well anyway I think I have something that might work out," Jiraiya said as he took the large scroll he carried with him. "I take it that you know of summons since you're dad holds the contract for the dogs."

"Yeah, I can't wait to sign it! Then I can get guys like Pakkun out anytime I wanted!" Naruto smiled happily.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at that; he honestly hadn't thought that the boy would want to make a contract with the dogs. Normally you could only sign one contract, it was true you could sign more but that was extremely rare. Many of the summon animals didn't like certain groups, it was hard enough at times to just get one signed as you either had to go to where the animals lived and earn their trust or the trust of someone that held the contract.

"Well the dogs are good for tracking but nothing much else, don't get me wrong they're decent at close quarter combat but I was hoping you would want to sign with the toads like myself." He pulled out the scroll as it unravelled and a list of names was shown.

Naruto thought about it, he really did want the dogs, "What good are the Toads? I mean there was that large one I remember you using."

"Kid they are great, they have techniques that are totally unique to them. Hell some of them are bigger than some buildings, while others are small enough to use as spies and letter delivery, they have a wide range of uses. Plus take a look at who was the last summoner." He knew this was kind of a cheap shot to get him to do it, but he felt it was the kid's birthright.

Naruto looked at the list of names, many he didn't know. There was Jiraiya and then he got to the last one before the blanks. It was the name of his biological father, he couldn't help but stare at the written name, and he only really had a picture of his dad and mother. This was written by him, a man he only knew from history books and the stories Kakashi told him. He couldn't help himself but trace his hand along the lines that made up the man's name.

"You knew him?" Naruto asked in a quiet voice.

"He was my greatest student, Naruto." Jiraiya said as he sat down with the boy. "A man like him comes once in a lifetime."

Naruto was silent a long moment as he thought this out, eventually he came to a decision. "If I sign this will you tell me about him? I only know what my dad told me and I want to know him more."

The old man smiled and nodded, "Hey I'd tell you even if you didn't sign it. It's every child's right to know where he comes from." He saw Naruto's surprised look as he stared at man. "Oh please, I was his sensei, you honestly didn't think I wasn't around when he and Kushina got together? Hell I still remember her pregnant with you boy, I'll even tell you about your mother as I knew her as well."

Naruto couldn't speak for a moment, he never knew someone else that had known his biological parents. Maybe the Third knew but Jiraiya seemed to have been a lot closer. "Thanks."

"Good then, now I'll show you how to sign this and we can get to some real training," the old pervert grinned and Naruto just grinned back.

**Next up Chapter 55: Dinner at the Hyuga House**


	55. Dinner at the Hyuga House

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 55: Dinner at the Hyuga House**

Naruto groaned as he tried to put on his best clothing, he still felt a little tired from all the training he had today but he did promise Hinata that he would be there. He just wished he had more of a break, plus he hated the formal clothing. They looked a lot like Hyuga wear with some slight alterations of course, but still, he was never comfortable in them. The only reason he had these was because his dad felt that if he ever needed them, they would come in handy. He hated it when his dad was right about this kind of stuff. He also had to pull off his mask as he stuffed it inside of a pocket.

He felt naked without it but he felt that it wouldn't go over well. He decided to wear it to the Hyuga compound but pull it off when he got inside. Besides he used to run around without one there before, even if it was when he had been a little kid. He sighed as he got ready, this was for his girlfriend, at least that's what he kept telling himself. Besides, he shouldn't be too nervous.

His mind went back to the training, so far it hadn't been too bad although summoning was a lot harder than his dad made it look. He had spent the entire time trying to summon, at first he got nothing but legless tadpoles, then tadpoles with legs, the best he did was when he summoned a mall red toad called, Gamakichi. The guy was kind of a pain in the ass, but at least he was smarter than the only other toad he had managed to summon. Apparently the younger brother to Gamakichi, a yellow one named Gamatatsu. Now, Naruto knew that he wasn't what you called 'book smart' but even to him, he could tell that Gamatatsu, although much nicer than his brother, was a bit on the slow side.

Plus the two kept demanding snacks of all things.

He really wanted to call up one of those cool battle toads that Jiraiya could do. Those would be great in battle and would really help out when he fought that guy in the match. Well he still had twenty-nine days left to get to that point and he wasn't going to stop until he could get a huge toad.

Anyways he had better hurry or else he was going to be running late. He quickly made his way to the Hyuga compound, taking the shortcut of jumping over buildings but since the compound didn't have any high building anywhere near it, he had to walk the last leg. He kept his mask on when he got to the gate guards, he bet that if he showed up without they might not know who he was. They usually saw him with the mask anyway. They let him in easily enough as he was expected, and when he was in he was led to the main house. He pulled off his mask and placed it in a pocket, he really felt weird walking out in the open without it, even here.

It was Neji that met up with him, the older boy was in traditional Hyuga garb. It was the first time that he had seen Neji dressed up like this, he looked like any other Hyuga, even the headband was changed from his forehead protector to a silk band to cover the mark hidden under it. After years of knowing this clan, Naruto knew all about that seal that was placed on the Branch members. Personally he hated that thing and felt it was stupid. No other clan had that, or a cast system like they had. But it wasn't his place, at least yet. When he became Hokage he planned to try and change things.

"Hey Neji, how are things?" Naruto asked the other boy.

"Fine," Neji said simply as he led him on.

"So…how's Tenten?" Naruto asked wondering how the girl was. He caught Neji's head snap up slightly and was that a slight blush? Maybe something had happened between the two, he knew that there was something between the two members of Team Gai. Maybe he could squeeze a little information out of him during dinner. This might be fun after all.

"She's doing better; she'll be helping me train for the last exam." He told him.

Naruto whistled, "Man you're lucky. Spending all that time alone with a pretty girl, just the two of you. Kind of makes me wish that me and Hinata-chan were-"

"Finish that sentence in any perverted way with my _cousin_ and you'll find all your chakra paths shut down." Neji said with a slight tick on his skull. Although he accepted Naruto and Hinata's relationship, that didn't meant he wanted to hear about certain private things. Plus as long as he treated her with respect and didn't take things too far, he could live with it.

Naruto knew that Neji couldn't permanently do what he said, but he was sure the older boy would try and it would hurt. So he kept his mouth shut as he was led into the main dinning hall. He had only seen it but never actually ate here before. It was a large rectangular room, with a long table on it. You were to sit on cushions and he was led to one of them. He sat down as Neji took a spot further down the table. Moments later Neji's father, Hizashi came in and nodded to Naruto slightly as he took a spot across his son. From the looks of it, it was customary to have any Branch members sit at the far end of the table, it was just another little thing the Main house did to keep the Branch members in their place. Naruto put that as yet another reason he heated the caste system.

Then the large double doors opened up as Hiashi walked in first, looking at poised and noble as he usually did. Naruto wondered how much training it took to get a person to look that stiff and proper all the time? Most likely years growing up in this environment did that, he was glad that Hinata wasn't that stiff. Speaking of with the Hyuga sisters were up first, he noticed that they were in more fashionable attire. Hanabi he noticed was looking her best but it was Hinata that drew his attention.

She was in fancy blue robes with a waist band and he could see how it gave her a slight hourglass figure. He was certain that she would later grow into that figure even more but he was happy with it all the same. Her face had a slight makeup job done on it, he had never seen her in makeup. It made her look more like royalty when he looked at her. Slight eyeliner, with a light red lips and blush added to her cheeks. She caught him staring and the blushed cheeks didn't need the makeup to make them seem rosy anymore.

They all took their seats as other Branch members came in to serve the dinner. It was a lot fancier than the kind of stuff Naruto was used to but he tried his best to use his good table manners. His dad taught him them in case he might actually need them at some point. So far the dinner didn't seem to be anything to worry about, pleasant conversations about the training and the upcoming chunin exams mainly.

Naruto felt a bit more relaxed by the time the meal ended but it was then that Hiashi seemed to get even more serious, which Naruto thought couldn't even be possible.

"Naruto, as I understand it you are now dating my eldest daughter," Hiashi simply said. He never liked to dance around a subject and it was time to get things out in the open. He noticed Hinata blush a bit from being put on the spot but he went on.

"As you know, you have been a friend of his clan for years. But a friend and courting not only a main family member, but my own daughter are two separate things. Given my daughter's station it is not a simple manner. Although she hasn't had a suitor picked out by the clan elders, if you wish to continue to see my daughter romantically you'll need to win their approval."

"What!? You mean I got to win over some old guys just to date my girlfriend!" Naruto didn't like the sound of this at all.

He also missing everyone other than Hiashi wince, Naruto was the least diplomatic person in the world it would seem. Then again not many would yell at the head of the Hyuga clan but this wasn't the best way to deal with the problem.

"Not for the time being," Hiashi mentally sighed. "She's too young to be betrothed but when she reaches that age then you will have to win the respect of the Elders." Which Hiashi knew wouldn't be easy. Marriage outside of the clan wasn't common, let alone to the heir of the clan.

"So then I'll do just that!" Naruto never did like people telling him what he could and couldn't do, but there was no way someone was going to tell him he couldn't see Hinata.

"Naruto what are your intentions towards my daughter?" Hiashi said very slowly and very seriously.

Naruto was a little taken aback by switch in topic. "Uh...well she's my girlfriend what else is there to it?"

"What I mean is what do you plan for with her?" Hiashi told him. "Is this merely just a fling or do your feelings run a lot deeper?"

Naruto blushed as he wasn't sure, after all he had only just started to date her. "W-Well, I really, really like her. I mean she's been in my life for so long I can't really see her not in it. She's one of my precious people to me."

Hinata could only look in wide eyed adoration at Naruto's words they made her feel happy to hear such things from Naruto.

Hiashi thought about what the boy had said, it would seem that although young, the boy's feelings were starting to be strong. If he seriously wanted to pursue his oldest child then he would need that strength. Even as children, his wife thought they might end up together and she had always been a wise woman. But they both had known the kind of things that Naruto would face if he did want to have a relationship with Hinata.

"If you do care for my daughter then you have better become someone that no one could turn away," Hiashi told him. "If not then it's best you only stay friends at least for her sake."

"Her sake?" Naruto asked confused looking at the others. Hinata and Hanabi seemed to be confused but the others did seem to know what the clan head was talking about.

"You the elders don't approve of you, and you continue to see her then Hinata will be punished," Hiashi needed for them all to understand the full consequences. "She would have the seal placed onto her and put into the branch family by going against the elders. Also if you two still see each other she could face excommunication."

Hinata got very pale at that as Hanabi and Neji gave her worried looks. Excommunication was the worse fate for any Hyuga. Not only were they to be branded with the seal if they didn't have it, they would be considered 'dead' to the clan. They would be kicked out of the compound and all Hyuga were to never speak to that person or even acknowledge them ever again. Hinata knew that she would never be able to see her family again, even if she saw Hanabi on the street, Hanabi would be forced to ignore her older sister or face punishment as well.

And to those that broke the excommunication, they too could end up facing the same fate.

Naruto didn't know what he meant, so Hizashi explained it all to Naruto. Naruto had never known about that and he could see Hinata's worried face. Naruto sat silently as he thought about it all, if he really wanted to date Hinata he would have to really prove himself. He would have to train and become very strong, he already planned on being Hokage. The question was, could he become that before Hinata was old enough? Plus what if he didn't, then what would he do? He knew how important family was and he couldn't let Hinata give up on hers.

Naruto looked very solemn when he looked Hiashi in the eyes, "I will prove to those old men that I'm the one for Hinata-chan, I promise that."

"And if you can't?" Hiashi asked him sternly.

Naruto looked at her and then down at the table, "I can't ask her to give up her family..."

Hiashi nodded his head as he looked to see the worried look on his daughter's face, he didn't like this but he had responsibilities and that took over the responsibility of being a father at times. "Then if by that time you can't appease the elders, then you must give up any romantic relationship with Hinata. I won't ask you to never see her again but nothing more than friendship."

The rest of dinner was very quiet after that.

**-Elsewhere-**

There were many hotels in Konoha, from visiting merchants, to VIPs coming to the village. It was also that each hotel was given a room to a different genin team when the chunin exams were being held. The rooms were paid by the village as the other villages' teams were guests after all. But it was also ensured that no hotel would have more than one team. There had been incidents in the past where one team would try and eliminate competition so for security reasons it was to split up the rooms available.

In this case, the current one where Baki and his team used was in the central area of the village. Baki had already talked with Kankuro about his loss, it was disappointing to see that not all of them were going into the finals. But then again, that boy in green had some impressive skills he got the feeling there was much more he hadn't seen. In fact some of the Konoha team had been surprising, although Gaara's attention had been on that masked blonde kid.

Gaara had actually asked (tell demanded without threat of violence actually) to know more about the boy. Someone had caught the young red head's attention. Baki pitied that boy, if Gaara thought you were interesting it meant your death sentence. But he had other concerns now he was to meet his contact inside the village. When he first met the boy he had been surprised at first that a young Leaf genin would be a spy and traitor but after that first meeting he saw through the façade. The boy was anything but a boy, behind that pleasant mask he wore, was a very dangerous person.

Baki wasn't sure if the boy was even really a genin the young ninja was too good and too skilled with calm nerves of iron. It was bit unsettling actually, being in his presence but Baki left his hotel to meet up with his contact. Although he hadn't even noticed the shadow he had picked up.

Baki made it to the balcony and waited, he didn't have to wait long before the white haired boy named Kabuto showed up, silently as ever.

"I take it there are no problems?" Baki asked the young man.

He smiled but there was little humour in that smile, it was the kind that actually put the veteran ninja on ease actually. "Of course, we're ready to start slowly having your people and mine infiltrating the village. I've set up safe areas and fake papers to get them past the gate, but they must keep a low profile. Also the staging areas are already set up, but we'll wait until the day before to move the men into position."

Baki had to admit that when he first heard the plan it was a daring one. So much could go wrong but it was also genius, using the chunin exams as a cover to have two forces invade a village. But he was worried, using the exams in such a way would ruin their village's reputation. The chunin exams were a sacred thing and to use them like this, no one would trust Suna or Oto for exams for generations. It would cause many problems in the future. But it was his Kazekage's orders and he would obey, even if this whole affair didn't make sense to him. The Leaf had been their allies for years, true it was a tenuous alliance, originally for mutual support but it was still an alliance. Which made everything worse, breaking an alliance with their plan, yes no one would trust Suna and their reputation would suffer for it all.

"You're master Orochimaru, is a very dangerous man but his plan leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

"He finds it more practical deal with events in the most practical manner, even if it's brutal, treacherous or viewed as 'distasteful' by others," Kabuto smirked as he adjusted his glasses. "But you shouldn't throw that name around, especially in this village. You'll never know who is listening." He cast his gaze to a shadowy area and Baki made a slight move to see with his peripheral vision. Baki then caught the movement of someone fleeing the shadows.

Baki sore in his head, he was certain he had slipped away unnoticed. He had been complacent and now it cost him, since it was his mistake it was his duty to correct that. "I'll handle him; you better leave before someone else shows up."

"Very well," Kabuto smirked as he watched Baki leave after the Leaf spy.

**-Hinata's Room-**

Naruto and Hinata finally had a moment to themselves, they were in her room and it hadn't changed much since he last saw it. Although the bunny cage was new given her new pet, Haku. He remembered a response he got from Wave when he told Haku what Hinata, named the rabbit. He was flattered that she had done so and was glad to hear how things were going. Haku was also doing much better, although they still couldn't mention certain names just in case. Sure the ninja that delivered mail were totally neutral but that didn't mean they couldn't be ambushed.

But still it was nice to hear how things were getting along over there. Although now he felt a lot more relaxed, he hoped he didn't have to go through something like that again anytime soon. They hadn't said anything about the deal that was made over dinner, they just wanted to enjoy their time together. Because they both knew, that they were both thinking that their time together would be very limited.

Naruto then noticed Hinata sigh as she sat on her bed and her shoulders looked like they were bothering her. She kept rolling them now and she was trying not to move her arms he noticed.

"Hey, are you okay Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked as he sat down with her.

"O-oh it's nothing, just training with Kurenai-sensei and Anko-sensei is being tough." He laughed it off or tried to. Truth was she was sore all over from just the first day, she knew that Kurenai could be tough but Anko was more strict.

"Huh, I thought Aunty Anko was training Sakura-chan?"

"Oh that's right you didn't know," Hinata told him how Kurenai and Anko had decided to train the two of them together. She went in on her training, to the running with the weights on, to then sparing, and then Kurenai was having them train in genjutsu. Mainly to see past them, thanks to her eyes she had a bit of an advantage. With simple ones she managed great, that is as long as her own visual nervous system wasn't affected, although Sakura was surprisingly adapt at them too.

"Wow that's great, you'll both get really stronger. I can't wait to see how you both are at the end of a month," he praised her causing her to blush. Then he got an idea, he led her to the center of the bed as she was wondering what he was planning.

Of course all kinds of ideas were running through her mind, after all she was alone with the boy she cared for, in her room, and on her bed. So many possibilities, but he wouldn't dare try something so bold while her own family was in the same building would he?

"Here just relax a bit okay?" He said as he got behind her and she felt his hands on her shoulders. She turned as red as a tomato as he did this, then he gently started to work the muscles in her neck and shoulders. It hurt a bit but he was gentle and soon it felt nice, she closed her eyes as she enjoyed the sensation.

Naruto had to admit that he was thankful for being able to do this, he had read this kind of thing but to do it in real life was even better. Plus with such short hair she really had a cute back neck, he wanted to move in close and plant a kiss on it. Maybe later, he grinned to himself. At any rate he was proud that she was continue to train so hard, he knew she would be great one day if she kept this up. He thought about how they first met, how afraid and timid she had been. She was still shy but she had grown since then, they both had actually.

He couldn't help but chuckle at how things had turned out.

"W-what's so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing, just thinking about how things have turned out, I mean you were my first friend, my best friend and now my girlfriend." He smiled as he remembered their life together up till this point. "You know I've been meaning to ask, when did you start to like me more as a friend?"

Hinata felt her cheeks heat up and was glad he couldn't see her face. "I-I think since we were little."

"What!? That long!? Why didn't you say anything to me?" He wanted to know why she had held such feelings for him secret for all this time.

"I-I-I was just afraid to lose you as a friend," Hinata said. "W-when did you start to feel different towards me?"

"Oh that's easy when we had that get together with everyone at the lake after our mission in Wave." Naruto still remembered how she looked in that swim suit.

"Really?" She was surprised by that, she didn't think she had done anything to really get his attention that day. It wasn't like she wore a flashy suit like the other girls or had done anything out of the ordinary.

Naruto was lost on thought about that day, "Yeah when I saw you dancing on the water with the others playing tag I realised you were the girl I had been thinking about since I saw her in Wave that one night when-" He cut himself off as he realised his mistake. He had been so lost in the memory he hadn't realized that he shouldn't have said that part.

Hinata listened but was confused, _'Girl in wave, but there was no girl in Wave. Well he mentioned seeing that girl dance on the water and…OH NO!'_

Hinata knew what he meant now, how he had seen her in a late night training session on the water. She had stripped down to prevent her clothing from getting wet but he hadn't known it had been her. That meant that he had not only seen her naked but had realized it had been her! She pulled away and turned to face him, her face was all red but this time from embarrassment. In fact she felt like she wanted to crawl under a rock and die from embarrassment.

"I-I didn't really see anything, and I didn't do it on purpose!" Naruto tried to think of what to say, what could you say to something like that? Then he noticed that she hadn't moved, not even her face. He waved a hand in front of her eyes but nothing happened. "Uh...Hinata-chan?"

The next thing he knew she once again fainted, only this time forward. He missed catching her with his hands as her head landed right into his crotch. Well more of her forehead did as he gave loud grunt of pain. "Ow! That hurt Hinata-chan!"

Unfortunately that wasn't all the bad luck he had, Hiashi was walking by the room to check up on them. Of course he trusted his daughter, but still he was father. He also wanted to see how Naruto was taking the news, the boy would one day have to prove himself worthy in the eyes of the elders if he planned to keep their relationship going with his daughter. That was when he heard and groan from Naruto and something about his daughter. He pulled open the door to see what was going out and froze. There on her bed, his daughter was bent forward, her head between the boy's legs as it looked to Hiashi that he was doing something very inappropriate with her.

"Naruto Hatake," Hiashi said coldly as the boy looked up in surprise. "You dare take such liberties with my eldest daughter?"

Naruto blinked in confusion until he looked down and noticed how things looked. He got a slight nosebleed at the thought but quickly realized that her father looked livid. Not surprising, he walked in on what looked like Hinata was doing something too adult with him, right after he said they might not be a couple later on. So Naruto quickly looked at his options, and did what any sensible boy in this situation would do. He quickly got up and jumped out of Hinata's (thankfully) open window. Hiashi however was quick to follow, as anyone still up and around would for many years remember the night the clan head was chasing around the blonde boy, with cursing the boy with thousands of ways to die while the boy proclaimed his innocence the entire time.

**-Village rooftops-**

Hayate didn't know how much longer he could keep this cat and mouse game up. He had to report what he had heart but that Suna ninja was a smart one. He kept him from getting close to an escape route. Hayate could just yell for help but he was currently hiding in the shadows and that would alert the ninja to his location. Then he might end up dead and they would only find his corpse. He didn't really mind dying, although he knew his girlfriend would take it hard. She may be an ANBU and tough but she was still a women. The thought of her made him hope he could get out of this, he didn't want to meet her in the next world if he got himself killed.

So far he had been lucky and sticking to hiding and running, but he knew sooner or later that guy would find him. Where was a Jonin, or ANBU when you really needed them? If the old Uchiha police force had still been around at least they would have a decent patrols at night for him to run into. If he got out of this alive he would seriously think about suggesting a higher night time patrol. Well he couldn't go into some civilian's home, they wouldn't stand a chance and he couldn't have hostages used against him. All the people he knew didn't live close by of all his rotten luck.

Hayate however couldn't wait any longer, he saw a rooftop that could take him to the back alleys, he might get more luck on the ground. Problem was, it was in open space. It took him a few moments but he decided to risk it. Hayate jumped out and pushed his muscles as fast as they would go, he was only ten feet away from the drop into the alley. For a moment he had hoped that he would make it, but the whistling sound of a kunai made him stop. Several of the ninja weapons landed in his path and he cursed.

He pulled the katana that he carried as he turned to face his opponent.

Baki stood there looking at the younger man, there was a fierce determination in his eyes and he had to admit, the man never gave up. He could respect that, but respect or not he had a mission to do.

"I applaud you boy, you gave me a good chase but it ends here," Baki told him.

"You act like it's already over," Hayate said as he rushed forward. "Leaf style: Dance of the Crescent Moon!"

Baki watched at the young man jumped up and then split into two parts, he was wondering which was the real one and which was the illusion but then he sensed a third motion above him. The two were both fakes he suddenly realized as the real Hayate came from the sky. The blade hit into Baki's protective vest thankfully and the light armour managed to catch the sword.

"Impressive," Baki smiled at the boy. "To be able to pull off a move like that at your age is very impressive. But now it's my turn, you should have aimed for my head or cut off a limb instead of going for my armour."

Hayate tried to pull his blade free but it was stuck, the armour looked light but it was thicker than he anticipated. He tried to move but he saw the Suna ninja's hand have a slight distortion around it. It was a wind attack of that he was sure. He knew how dangerous wind attacks could be but it was already too late, at this range he couldn't dodge it, and he didn't have any skills to block.

"Wind Style: Wind Razors" Baki said as many different blades made of wind sliced into Hayate's body.

Baki looked down at the bleeding man, he had to admit that the man had skills but not good enough to defeat him. From the wounds Baki could see that the man would bleed to death but he couldn't let the slim possibility that the man might survive long enough to warn others. He pulled out a kunai ready to finish it off when he heard a noise approaching him.

"Get back here!" A male voice was heard.

"I'm telling you it's all a misunderstanding!" A boy's voice was heard.

Baki cursed his luck, they were coming right this way too. He slipped into the shadows if he had to he might have to deal with them as well. Three bodies in one night wouldn't be good, it would really alert the village that something was wrong with that many dead.

Naruto had been running with everything he had, it hadn't been his fault but was Hinata's father going to listen to him? Hell no! He was going to kill him! So Naruto had no choice but to run, now he had run before from people chasing him, usually from his pranks but in all honestly those didn't have Hiashi's reasons to catch him. For a guy that spent most of his time overseeing a clan, he was in great shape. That was bad news for Naruto, and even worse how could he hide? Those eyes of Hiashi's were better than Hinata or Neji, unless he could think of something he was truly screwed.

He risked a glance behind him as they ran over the rooftops, to check to see how far away the man was, not far enough away for Naruto's comfort. Unfortunately this was a bad move to make, he hadn't been watching his step as he stumbled on something and crashed to a halt on the rooftop he was currently on. He knew he was dead now, the Hyuga leader would catch him now that he had stopped. He sighed and he pushed himself around to face his fate when he froze.

There was enough light to see what, or more to that matter, who he had tripped over. It was the guy from the last part of the exam, but he was all cut up and bleeding all over the place. He had forgotten all about Hiashi when the man landed. Hiashi was going to punish the boy right there until he noticed that Naruto was over the body of a fellow Leaf ninja. As a man of priorities he knew which would come first, but he gave Naruto a hard look, he would deal with the boy later.

"Naruto get help and fast, he won't make it without immediate medical attention." He said as he bent down and using his own robes, started to fashion bandages. He didn't know much other then the basic first aid for field dressings but he hoped it would be enough to give the man some more time. Naruto didn't even blink an eye as he quickly went for help.

Baki saw all of this and scowled, it was just bad luck for him. He could see that the man was a Hyuga even in the low light, but from the robes he guessed main house, plus the fact the forehead was bare. That usually meant the better Hyuga fighters but he wasn't sure if he should stay or leave. He needed to finish off the Leaf ninja but he heard how the Hyuga could see all around them and through objects. The boy was also going to help, he couldn't get the boy as he couldn't leave the target and the target was now protected. In a long fight more people would come and he would be exposed.

He took stock of the situation; the Leaf ninja was unconscious and still might not survive. He decided to pull back and let the Leaf spy handle things. If the man lived then the spy could infiltrate the hospital easier than he could and finish the job. He slipped away quietly to avoid the Hyuga using his bloodline to spot him.

**Next up Chapter 56: Fate of Hayate  
**


	56. Fate of Hayate

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 56: Fate of Hayate**

**-Konoha Hospital-**

The Hokage was an old man but at times like this he truly felt his age, when the young are injured or killed it reminds him of all those that fell before over the years. At the moment he was in a hallway with Hiashi. After Hiashi and Naruto managed to get help and bring Hayate to the hospital it had been looking grim. The man had so many injuries and had lost so much blood, it was true that medial jutsu could do wonders that even doctors that couldn't use chakra could do, and it still had limits. It also wasn't like his old student Tsunade was still around either. Ever since she left the medical field had lost someone that could have tough so much to the next generation. Although Konoha's medical ninja were top of the line thanks to her earlier work, there was still room to grow.

After Hiashi had left, the Hokage had been given the details, that night he hadn't slept very well and even now the lack of sleep showed. Hayate had been at death's door the entire night and as he came to the hospital in the morning he had checked up on the man.

"So there was nothing to be done then," Hiashi stated as he was told that Hayate had passes away in the night.

The Hokage sighed, "None, the wounds were too bad for him to survive for long. That is why I called for you and Naruto, as the only witnesses I need to know if there was anything he said or anything you saw that would tell us who did this, and why. Although what were you two doing out at night anyway?"

Hiashi to his credit didn't show any emotion on his face given the reasons why they had been out there. After everyone he had gone home last night to his frantic daughter. Apparently she had asked what had happened and why Naruto wasn't around, she heard the story of her father chasing Naruto for some reason. So after a very long and embarrassing talk, he found out that Naruto hadn't made his daughter do something inappropriate. Although the boy would have to be watched just in case that he got it into his head that he could take liberties with his daughter before a deadline was set. He would have to make it known that in no uncertain terms, that Hinata would remain 'pure' until she was married. And as head of clan Hyuga he would see to that and heaven protect anyone that tried to stop that.

"It was a private manner that has been resolved for the most part," Hiashi said not wanting to go into detail.

The Hokage gave him a look but didn't press the matter, he got the feeling it was unimportant to these events and where of a personal nature. Normally he would be curious but not with something like this hanging over their heads. It was very troubling, there was an ill wind blowing in the village, he could feel it in his old bones but where it was coming from, and what it brought he didn't know.

Down the hallway another figure was lurking, Kabuto had heard the report from Baki and he was disappointed in the Suna ninja for not making sure the job was done. Now he had to see if Hayate not only lived but spoke to anyone. The problem was getting in there he could dress up as an ANBU, that was easiest to slip in after taking one out. But two deaths this close together would make everyone go on high alert. He had tried to sneak in several times but ANBU were everywhere in teams. He had first tried to sabotage the operation his medical skills were good enough to do that unnoticed. But he couldn't slip in, by the time he had got to the hospital it had already been underway and anyone else just walking in would have been noticed.

He had tried later to sneak into the intensive care room, there were many little things he could have done to make it look like the man just hadn't survived the surgery. But the place was too well guarded he couldn't even get close, at least not without killing anyone. If Orochimaru's plans were ruined things would not go well, the man did not tolerate failure.

He felt someone walk up behind him and quickly turned around and put on his 'mask' of the innocent little genin. He was surprised to see Naruto Hatake of all people walking upt he hallway. The young masked boy looked at him and seemed to get happier.

"Hey, Kabuto-san!" Naruto hadn't expected to run into the white haired genin. He felt bad that the older boy had to drop out of yet another chunin exam. Plus he never got to see how strong Kabuto was either. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh a friend of mine was injured and I just though to check in. What about you?"

"Oh, the Old Man wanted to speak to me about…well something," Naruto didn't go into detail. That night had been one crazy night but the body covered in blood had been something he wouldn't forget. "Well I better not keep him waiting, plus I'm missing out on training, bye I hope your friend gets better."

Kabuto smiled and waved it off as he slipped against the wall like he belonged there. With luck if they didn't go anywhere maybe he could pick something up in the hallway. He had been listening earlier to the Hokage and the head of the Hyuga clan before Naruto showed up.

Naruto froze when he saw Hiashi there next to the Hokage he gulped and started to look for exits. The windows didn't open in the hallway so unless he wanted to break them (which would get him in trouble with the hospital staff) they were out. He saw a linen cart so maybe he could hide in that until the man was gone. Or slip into another room, as long as the man didn't use his eyes to look for him through objects, Naruto had various options.

"Ah, there you are Naruto." The Hokage said noticing the black and orange clad boy.

Naruto winced, knowing that he was screwed. Hiashi now saw him, there was no way to hide now and the man was fast. No room to really dodge in the hallway either, yeah he felt like his life was nearing its end. His face went pale as the head of the Hyuga walked slowly towards him. All those threats of death came back into Naruto's young mind.

'_Well…it wasn't so bad a life. Had a great dad, nice family, good friends and I had a really cute girlfriend.' _Naruto prepared himself for the afterlife, wishing that he could have at least became Hokage, or maybe at least second base with Hinata…maybe third. Homerun when they were old enough, oh well, life didn't always get you want you wanted and he really wished he made a will out.

Hiashi stared down at the boy with an expressionless face. Although on his return his daughter had explained everything, he was inclined to believe her. After all she couldn't lie to really save her life, but that was besides the point. He needed to make sure that the boy knew his place, he may like the boy but that didn't mean Naruto could ever take liberties with his daughter. He needed to ensure that if thoughts like that ever entered the boy's mind, he would remember this moment.

He leaned down so only Naruto would hear what he was going to say. "I will refrain from killing you, for the moment. My daughter explained but let this moment be perfectly clear in your mind. If I ever even suspect that you actually try anything like what I thought was going on. I have a large amount of land, and the only people that could see through the ground to where a body could be buried, all of them are under my command. Keep that in mind."

Naruto looked up and nodded quickly as suddenly images of him being buried somewhere in the Hyuga compound came to his mind.

"Now let's not keep the Hokage waiting," He said as he turned around and walked back to the leader of the village. Naruto followed looking like a scolded dog, and a bit paler. As they came up to the Hokage they were to give a report on what happened. Mainly it wasn't much just that they stumbled upon his body. Hayate had been in no condition to talk about what had happened, so it was still a major mystery. While they were talking a medic took in a gurney where the body would be placed and taken to the morgue.

"Let me see him!" A female voice yelled out. "Damn it I want to see for myself!"

The voice was of Yugao Uzuki, a beautiful young woman with long purple hair, she was also Hayate's girlfriend and lover. She had been on an ANBU assignment and had only just heard the news. She needed to see for herself the truth that her love was dead, murdered by the sounds of it. She was currently being held by two hospital staff.

"Let her through," the Hokage said as the two staff members let go immediately.

She paused only for a moment before running into the room, a moment later a wail of anger, pain and of loss filled the air. It soon turned into crying as those in the hallway turned as if trying to give her space for her grief and pain.

The Hokage sighed hearing the poor young woman, whose heart was just shattered. "Death is never an easy thing to face when it is the one you love."

"No...it isn't," Hiashi stated remembering the death of his own wife. Although it had been years since she had passes away the hole in his life had never been filled.

For Naruto he remained silent, he couldn't stand listening to that woman crying. It brought back the memory of when Hinata had lost her mother and she had cried in his arms. Is this the thing that would happened to her if he died one day, or what if she was killed? What if anyone he knew would be killed one day and then what? He knew that death came to anyone, he had liked Hinata's mother and she had died.

Kabuto grinned as he pushed his glasses back up, it would seem that maybe all wasn't lost. Although he didn't like the fact that the man's body would be taken to Inoichi Yamanaka, if he could find anything in the memories that still lingered deep inside of the brain, it wouldn't go well. The body would be put into the morgue to keep the deterioration slowed, but the body wouldn't be as guarded. It would be much simpler to go into there and ensure the brain wouldn't be accessed. A simple little injection that would make the brain turned into jelly.

**-10 Days Later-**

"Water style: Aqua Tower!" Sakura's voice rang out in the training area. A pillar of water shot out of the ground as it moved forward to attack several training dummies. The water tore the straw scarecrow like beings into pieces. Sakura was sweating and breathing hard from the training but she was smiling.

That had been the first time she had used that jutsu perfectly like she had. It hadn't been easy to learn water manipulation, and even harder to learn how to make water when there was no nearby source. Although there was water in the human body and in the air it was dangerous. Using too much of your own water that reside inside of your body could apparently kill you from dehydration. Using the moisture in the air took time and more chakra.

But still, the two women training her and Hinata had made the two girls train in how to use the water style jutsus with little to no water to draw on.

"Water Style: Water Shockwave!" Hinata called out as a spiral of water was formed from the water in the air. The spiral moved and hit a large rock as it exploded on contact.

"Nice one Hinata," Sakura said to the dark haired girl. Hinata smiled at Sakura's encouragement, over the last few days they had spent a lot of time helping each other out. Hinata felt a sense of strength from how sure Sakura always seem to be, at least in the training.

"Not bad girls," Kurenai smiled proudly at the two of them. "Keep this up and you two will have some major surprises for your teams. What do you think Anko?"

Anko who had been sitting in a tree watching them jumped down and walked over to the two girls. Out of the two women, Anko was always the hardest, she didn't believe in being gentle in training. She never did anything that would hurt the girls permanently or land them into the hospital. But she wasn't gentle either, she pushed the girls because she felt they could take it. So far she hadn't been too disappointed, but she tried not to show it too much.

"It's getting better," Anko simply said to the two young girls. "at any rate I think it's time for a break before you girls collapse."

That had been music to their ears as they both felt like collapsing at that moment. As they rested in the grass both girls minds went to thinking on the future. For Hinata, she was thinking of her future with Naruto. Ever since her father gave him that warning about what the Elders could do, it worried her. She couldn't think of her life without Naruto being a part of it. Now that they were a couple she felt like she would rather cut an arm off than lose him. He made her happy, made her feel confident in herself and she felt like she could do anything. He was a source of great strength and inspiration for her, plus she trusted no one else more so than she did.

Sakura's mind was occupied by two things the first was the upcoming matches. She wasn't sure how the training with the others were doing but she was sure they were training hard. She needed to be ready for her own match Sakura hadn't seen Ino since that day of the preliminary matches. She was sure that Ino was doing better now, but no matter what she would get even for Ino. The other thing her mind had been on as always was Sasuke. She sighed in a bit of depression ever since she had made the deal with him she had kept her word.

She never once asked him out again but she still wanted to. Sakura looked over to Hinata and felt a bit of envy of the other girl. She had at least got the boy she had been crushing on, while Sakura was still behind in that point. "Hey Hinata, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"How did you get Naruto to ask you out?" Sakura asked the girl plainly, she figured that it had to be Naruto to take the initiative as Hinata couldn't muster the courage to do something like that. If she could, she would have asked a long time ago.

Hinata blushed as she found out the real reason Naruto noticed her, she didn't think telling Sakura to train naked at night and having Sasuke see her was the best thing to say. Plus it was too embarrassing to confess to that. She had been thinking about that, on the one hand it wasn't the best way to get a boy to notice her. Then she remembered how Naruto couldn't stop talking about the mysterious girl. It had made Naruto see her as a girl and not just as a friend.

But she had no way to tell Sakura how she had done it and the other girl was waiting for an answer.

"I think she just used her body," Anko chimed in as she had been listening in.

"Anko," Kurenai snapped. Although she too had been listening she didn't like Anko implying such a thing.

"Hey I know the brat better than you do," Anko said in her defence. She then struck a pose to help her next point. "Besides a woman's body is her main weapon against a man. Don't you remember that as one of the private lessons in school only for the girls?"

Now both Sakura and Hinata were blushing, there were certain things that kunoichi learned differently than the boys. Flower arrangement had been one, but the more embarrassing where the ones when a professional courtesan came in for an introduction to seduction. That had been extremely embarrassing day for those girls.

"There are better ways at getting a man than that," Kurenai said to Anko clearly not amused.

"Says the woman that's still single," Anko stuck her tongue out at the older and now slightly fuming woman. "How much longer are you going to wait for Asuma to make the first step anyway?"

"Asuma, as in Asuma-sensei?" Sakura looked up in surprised at the red eyed woman.

"I-I didn't know that Kurenai-sensei, liked Asuma-sensei." Hinata spoke up in surprise.

Kurenai felt her cheeks heat up as Anko made this public. She was about to deny it but Anko beat her too it. "Are you kidding? She's totally has had a crush on that guy since she was still a chunin. Kind of pathetic really, at least when I started to like Kakashi as more than a friend, I did something about it. And I got what I wanted," Anko smirked at Kurenai who was now blushing much like Hinata.

Sakura thought about this, Anko was always so confident and she took no prisoners. She was a great kunoichi that Sakura had come to respect and she did get Naruto's dad. If there was one woman that could help her with Sasuke, than Anko was the person for it.

Sakura quickly got to her knees as she bowed her head to Anko, "Please Anko-sensei, can you help me with getting Sasuke to like me?"

Anko was surprised by the girl's request but she couldn't help but also feel a sense of perverse pleasure in moulding the girl. Kurenai sighed as she saw the look in her friend's eye she had seen that look many times and felt a bit sorry for the girl. Anko asked Sakura to explain everything, she went into the things she had tried, the deal she made even how jealous she was when Sasuke took noticed of Tenten. Anko asked for a better explanation on what kind of person Tenten was.

Anko thought about it all of it and soon to came to a conclusion.

"Okay first things first, you made one hell of a bad first impression," Anko said bluntly as Sakura hung her head feeling even more depressed. "From what I can tell the kid hates 'fan-girls', they just annoy him and you went along with the pack in school. Big mistake there as he placed you into the same grouping, but there is hope. You haven't been like that anymore so maybe his opinion of you has changed."

"He also seems to like the more mature types and strong girls. Given that you said he wants to restore his clan, he'll want to have a strong woman to do it. Now in order to get him to notice you, you'll have to show him that you're more mature and stronger. Thankfully we're working on the stronger part now and you can show him that in the matches. Now you'll have to work on your personality a bit, you have to come off as more confident, make the boy want to chase you instead of you chasing him."

"Last thing...you need a new look."

"I-I do?" Sakura looked down at her red dress.

"You're not a little girl anymore you're a ninja and its time to dress the part. So after training I'm taking you shopping to get you looking like a real ninja. As well as making him take notice of you as a woman."

Sakura liked the sound of that, if she looked more mature it might help.

Anko looked to Hinata, "Maybe we can do something for Hinata, get the brat a little hot under the collar. Hell I saw what you looked like in a bathing suit I wish I had developed like you did when I was your age."

"Anko, you are not dressing up my student," Kurenai said sternly with her friend. "Hinata is a proper girl and I will not have you dressing her in anything else."

"Are you making a comment about me or something?" Anko asked a little angry. She hated it when people made very negative comments on her look. She liked the functionality of her choice in clothing as well as the physical appeal. "Besides I'm not saying anything drastic, just maybe lose the jacket or at least get a slimmer one."

As the two adults started to argue over fashion it left their students wondering which one had the right idea. Kurenai dressed in a more exotic look but it didn't show too much, while Anko dressed in a provocative manner but it still held function. At any rate it was awhile before they started training again that day.

**-Later that Night-**

Gaara had been very bored lately there was no real reason for him to train. He had never found anyone that could challenge him so there was no need to get stronger. He was already the strongest there was, even adults were afraid of him and they were right to be afraid of him. He was the walking death of the desert. He didn't sleep either, since the demon within would devour his mind. The sand was the only thing that he could trust it had been the only thing that protected him, that was there for him constantly. It had been his mother for his life, already wrapped up in its comforting embrace and he would feed his mother the blood of his enemies.

But there was someone else out there whose blood called out to him. He wasn't sure if he could wait until the end of the month. His mind kept going back to that one match, the man that had tried to drain the chakra out of the masked genin, the one called Naruto Hatake.

The screams of that man still rang in his mind, it was a glorious sound. But Gaara knew what had happened he knew what that masked boy was. He was like him, he had a demon inside as well, he could just tell. This was the first time he met someone like him, someone that interested him this much. He would have to kill that boy he felt every part of his body screaming out for the blood of Naruto Hatake.

Naruto groaned as he walked home, today had been even a harder day than normal. After Jiraiya had found him practicing that trick with the water balloons that his dad taught him the old man hadn't left him alone. He didn't really see why at first, he kept the practice of that training test ever since his dad showed his team how shape manipulation worked. But at any point whatever interests was in the old man was gone as they continued on their training.

Although the old pervert left him alone for some time, mainly for more 'research' so Naruto was left to experiment, and it had been his shape training that made Naruto remember that one move in the Forbidden Scroll he and Hinata had been tricked into stealing. He remembered that one jutsu that if done wrong would rip apart someone's hand. Wind jutsus were apparently dangerous but what if he could find a way to control the shape of the chakra? It was then that he had begun his experiments and when Jiraiya had found him.

_**-Flash back a few days ago-**_

Naruto stood by the river as he tried to figure out his new move. His own dad came up with an original jutsu at about his age, then again his dad was a genius. But that never stopped Naruto, so he had been trying to create a move similar to what he had seen. He wished that he had read that scroll more, he kind of forgot a few parts. He had been trying with hand seals and the balloon training but so far nothing.

"Come on, it can't be that hard to create a jutsu is it?" Naruto said as he tried something else. He closed his eyes as he thought of drawing out his wind chakra. He held the image in his mind, then Naruto extended his hands slightly apart and the palms facing each other. He slowly began to picture the wind chakra moving through his body and going into his hands. Next step was to force it into the shape of the balloons. For a minute he thought that he had just started to get somewhere.

"Alright I'm doing it, I'm-" BOOOOOM!

The explosion of the mismatched chakras ended up exploding in his hands he was sent flying back as he hit a tree. He had blacked out after that and it wasn't until he felt someone shaking him and someone calling his name.

"Hey kid, Naruto wake up!"

Naruto groaned as he felt his arms tingling like they had been numb for a bit. He slowly opened his eyes as he looked up to see sky, and Jiraiya looking down from him.

"Oh good you're not dead," The man grinned as he looked over the area. "What the hell were you doing? I thought you were supposed to be training with the summoning and calling out your other chakra to help give you a boost."

"I was trying to make up my own move," Naruto explained what he had planned to do but somehow it had backfired.

"Kid do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" Jiraiya couldn't believe the kid would do something so dangerous. Although he had to admit, for the kid to try something so advanced on his own was impressive. "Look kid, you're nowhere near ready for using such an advanced move. Hell, what you were trying to do was infuse chakra into an unfinished technique."

"Unfinished technique?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Yeah that thing your dad showed you is actually the first step of training to use a different technique. Although you got the first part down, it would take too long to train you to use it." He noticed Naruto's downed expression. "How about this, for the last week I'll teach you how to use that jutsu that is similar to the one that you were trying to recreate."

"Really, you can teach me that?" Naruto said excited but then he remembered that was still some time off. "But what about before then?"

"Well you still have trouble with the damn chakra you can't seem to access the Fox's at will. I have an idea how to fix it but it's pretty hard and I'm not sure you're up for it." The Sannin told the young boy.

"I can do anything, so bring it on Ero-Sennin!"

_**-Present-**_

'_Man that had been a mistake,_' Naruto thought to himself remember what had happened two days ago. _'Stupid old pervert, making me do all that stuff and then throwing me off a damn cliff! Then that stupid Boss Toad making me ride him for the entire day in order to be his 'minion' and then there was the Fox. The stupid Fox was a big ugly jerk too.'_

Naruto had been pushed off a cliff by his teacher just so that he was put into a life or death moment, he had gone into his mind for the second time. When he got up to the cage he had remembered a dream about being in that dark place before. Turns out it hadn't been a dream and that had been a memory of when he had been stabbed. He still remembered a bit of that day, he had always thought it had been just a nightmare when he passed out. But the Fox had remembered him from when he had been a child, well this time he wasn't afraid of the stupid thing and told him so right to his big harry face.

Although Naruto didn't like using the Fox's chakra, he wanted to use his own strength but he would use it if he needed to, but only as a last resort.

Now he was dragging himself home dreaming of his nice soft bed. Too bad his dad was still camping out wherever he was training Sasuke. He was also pumped he couldn't wait to see what Sasuke and Sakura had learned and what they would do in the finals. That thought gave him a bit more energy as he made his way through the dark streets. Although ever since he had found Hayate's body he kept looking around into the shadows. Something was wrong, even he could tell that but he didn't know what. He told Jiraiya about everything but the old man just had this serious and deep thinking face. The man never said anything about it but Naruto got a feeling that the old man was thinking something was going on as well.

It was only because of that heightened sense of alert that he felt it, the killing intent. Naruto although his body was sore and tired he moved quickly. He spun around with the hand on the hilt of the sword on his back. He was surprised to see ten meters away was the Suna ninja, Gaara.

The other boy really made Naruto nervous, the whole boy's demeanour just screamed out danger. It was a long moment before the other boy spoke up in that gravelly whispered voice of his.

"So you're this village's container." Gaara spoke as he looked at the boy. So far he wasn't impressed and he could feel the fear coming off the other boy. It kind of disgusted by it actually, to think that another demon container was like this.

Naruto was shocked by what the other boy said, "How the hell did you know that!" Naruto really did want to know, it was a secret, hell he didn't find out what he was until he graduated. But this boy from another village knew?

Gaara stared at the other boy, he wanted to just call up on his sand and kill the boy now. But he was told to wait, wait until the matches started up again. He didn't want to wait though, this boy was his prey and the sand called for his blood. It took a lot of will power to quell the blood thirst in him.

"How that two people that are the same can be so different. I can't figure out why you're not more like me, aren't you hated and feared for what you are? This village should fear you with good reason, you should be able to destroy this village but you're just weak. But at any rate, I look forward to killing you Naruto Hatake. You'll be the first of our kind that I'll be able to kill." Gaara grinned a maniacal grin as the sand swirled around him and soon Naruto was left alone in the street.

Naruto just stood there transfixed as the boy's words rang in his head.

"So much alike...of our kind...does he mean that..." Naruto paused as the words slowly sank into his mind. And Gaara's words would echo into his mind for the rest of the training that month, and when the day came for the final matches he wasn't sure what he would feel the next time he meet Gaara.

**Next up Chapter 57: The Finals**

**Okay I've decided, I'll end this story after the invasion but I will leave the story open for a sequel. I feel it's time to end this story after two years and I need a break from it. But don't worry I do plan on getting back to this universe I created.**


	57. The Finals

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 57: The Finals**

The day had finally come to Naruto and everyone else in the village. The final part of the chunin exams started today, from all over the ninja nations important people came to see the genins. Many would be clients one day as they looked to see which village had the most promising genins for the next six months. For the past few days inns were crowed as more and more people came into the village. For Naruto, he had barely slept that last night, he was too excited. His month of training with the old pervert had done him some good. The boy was itching for his fight, the only downside was that he wasn't first up.

He made sure to eat a healthy breakfast, no matter how much he wanted ramen, his dad always made sure he ate well. Plus this was important he would need all the energy he could take. Plus he thought he could always send a shadow clone to the ramen stand for a quick snack between matches. That is if the clone didn't eat it first. He scowled at that memory the problem with shadow clones was that they thought too much like the person at times. At any rate he spent the morning preparing, going over his weapons, making sure he stretched out for a hard day. Plus anything else he could think of to pass the time and to make it go by faster. When the time finally came, he was out the door and ran straight to the stadium. Any concern for saving his energy didn't even enter his mind, he just wanted to get in there as fast as possible.

He made it there with plenty of time, already the place was packed with people as Naruto looked around for his friends. He saw Team 10 with Asuma by the rail and went over to them waving and calling out to them. Shikamaru raised his head with a lazy wave, Choji was happy to see Naruto and Naruto saw that Ino was looking a lot better. He couldn't see any scarring but then again, Konoha medics were some of the best.

Ino had improved and she didn't have any scarring thankfully, she had been afraid her 'perfect body' as she said, would be ruined with scars. Although it had taken some time for her to heal, it took a few days for her to wake up and then there was the physical therapy. A few of her tendons had been cut, but medical jutsu could repair those types of injuries if treated before they atrophied or if they weren't damaged beyond repair. Hers, had been clean cut through, the best type for medics to heal. But it took her two weeks to gain full functionality again as her body had to relearn how to use them.

It had been the scariest thing in Ino's life, she had never been injured that much before in her life and there had been times she thought her career as a ninja might have been over with. It had been a terrifying experience for her and a bit of a wake up call. Now she knew personally just how dangerous her life had become, it was the point that her father said many would either go on or it would break them. Well she wasn't going to let this stop her, she planned on learning from this and getting stronger from it.

"Hey Naruto," Ino waved to him as she saw the masked genin walk up to them. "So I hope you actually did some training unlike someone I bet I could name." She cast Shikamaru a glance.

He only sighed, truth was that he had trained with his dad, mainly due to his mother didn't want her son to do horrible in the exam and bring shame to their house. Plus he knew that she was actually worried, she only complained and yelled like she had when she was really worried about something.

"Oh yeah I trained a lot and got a few new surprises," Naruto grinned at the prospect of showing off his new skills.

"Great," Shikamaru sighed, "as if exploding clones wasn't enough for you, now what? Knowing you this place might not survive the experience."

"Hey I'm not that bad," Naruto glared at him. He noticed the looks all three were giving him as he slumped his shoulders. "Some friends you all are."

"Hey it's the truth," Kiba's voice came behind him as he noticed Team 8 with their sensei walking towards them.

"Hey guys," Naruto said as he smiled to Hinata, then he noticed something as the girl came up to him. "Hey Hinata-chan are you wearing a new coat?"

Hinata was wearing a less baggy coat, this one was a bit more slim at the waist as well. It was also unzipped from the top a bit showing a new mesh top just peeking out from it. She hadn't been sure of what to get when Anko took her and Sakura to get new clothing. She never was comfortable with showing off her figure so this was the best she could do.

"Oh that looks nice," Ino jumped in as she took in the new coat. "That looks really cute on you."

"Yeah it does," Naruto ginned at her. Hinata blushed a bit but was happy someone thought so as she wasn't certain about the new jacket. Plus the fact that Naruto himself thought so only meant more so to her. Plus it was really great to see him again, she had missed him the entire time they had been training separately. She was surprised when he gave her a hug, she felt all warm inside as he did so.

"Missed you Hime," he whispered into her ear at the nickname he gave her.

She relaxed into the hug as she felt herself nuzzle into him, smelling his scene and the feel of him against her. She forgot that they were in public she just wanted to enjoy the feel of her boyfriend against her. After nearly a full month she could just stay like they were for the rest of the day.

"Awww, that's so cute," Ino said nearly gushing at the sight. "I wish I could get a boyfriend to do that with."

"Like Sasuke would ever let you anywhere near him for things like that," Shikamaru sighed.

"What was that?" Ino snarled at him as the boy flinched. He really needed to remember when not to make certain comments around the blonde girl. She could be fearsome when she wanted to be and Shikamaru already had one girl he had to fight today, he didn't need another on top of that.

Although Ino's comment did snap Hinata out of her enjoyment, she noticed everyone looking as she quickly stepped out of the hug all red in the face. Public displays of affection were something a Hyuga was not supposed to do, plus it was embarrassing for her. Naruto only chuckled at the sight of her, she looked so cute like that.

"Oh by the way Naruto, you got that thing you owe me for losing the bet?" Kiba asked Naruto. After all Team 7 had arrived late and his team had beaten Naruto's. He knew that Naruto wouldn't run out on a bet and he was kind of looking forward to it. Plus Kurenai was talking with Asuma so now was the best time to get it out of the way while she wasn't looking.

Naruto sighed as he rolled his eyes, he pulled open his black vest and reached inside and tossed a familiar orange book to Kiba. "There, an Icha Icha novel."

Kiba grinned as he put it in his own coat, ever since Naruto first read it out loud to Sasuke he wanted his own copy. "What did you do, swipe this from your dad's collection?"

"Are you crazy?" Naruto said shocked. "If my dad knew I did that he'd skin me alive, son or not. I just pulled a henge of my dad when I went into the book store. They didn't even blink when I bought the book." If he had known this earlier he might have tried to get his own copies but that was a thought for another day. "Speaking of, I don't see him or Sasuke anywhere, not that I'm surprised."

"Y-you're father wouldn't be late for this would he?" Hinata asked hopefully.

"Well..." Naruto scratched the back of his head, he had been worried about all of this. In fact he had hoped that his dad wouldn't be late for once. This was a major day for him, if he made chunin today than it would be great and all, but he wanted his dad here to see him win.

"Man you'd think my own son would have more faith in me," Kakashi's voice was heard behind them. They quickly turned to see Kakashi walking towards them with his hands in his pockets. Sasuke was next to him wearing a new all black outfit and the sword strapped behind his back instead of the waist. "To think I raised such a son who has no faith in his own father."

"Well maybe if you weren't late all the time," Naruto grumbled but he was delighted to see his dad and Sasuke here. "So Sasuke, I hope my dad didn't work you too hard I know what he can be like when he actually puts effort into the training."

"Hn, we'll just see when the matches start and you better make it to the final round," Sasuke grinned at the masked boy.

"Only if you do the same," Naruto said back to him.

"Ah rivals in actions," Kakashi sighed and then looked around. "Hey I'm missing one of mine, anyone seen Sakura?"

"S-She said she would be arriving about now," Hinata told them. She guessed that Sakura would be here pretty soon although she hadn't seen the girl since their last training day yesterday. Given all the training both girls had went through, Hinata hoped that Sakura did well. Over the past month she had gotten a bit closer to the pink haired girl, here was a girl that tried her hardest to become strong only pushed Hinata even harder herself. She watched the Hatakes joking around as father and son, and for a moment she kind of wished she had that kind of closeness with her own father. But she knew because of their station in life they had to act a certain way.

It was then that she noticed a certain pink haired girl walking up to them. "Oh, Sakura just arrived," Hinata said.

"Oh really?" Naruto said turning to his friend, "Hey there S-S-Sakura-chan?!"

Everyone turned to face Sakura as she walked towards them, gone was the familiar red dress she usually wore. Now she wore a red vest that still held the white circle on the back, a matching low cut skirt also was on her with black shorts under it. The rest of her body was covered in a ninja mesh that looked exactly like the kind Anko wore. Even Sakura's foot wear looked a bit more like Anko's with light amored shin protection. Sakura also wore gloves with metal on the back of the hands just like Kakashi's gloves only these weren't cut off at the fingers like his. She definitely had a different look to her as her forehead protector was pulled down to actually cover her forehead.

She looked a lot more ninja-like now than he had and it was a just a shock to see her like this. Sakura knew people would stare but Anko had given her some coaching on how to deal with it. Sakura looked impassively at everyone. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"When the hell did you get new clothing and why wasn't I invited?" Was the first words spoken, by Ino no less. Although she was happy to see her best friend she couldn't help but look at Sakura's new impressive look. In comparison to Sakura's older outfit, this looked a lot more functional ninja wear.

Sakura just shrugged it off, "Anko-sensei said I needed a new wardrobe if I wanted to be taken seriously as a ninja. Plus I have to admit, after getting used to it, it's easier for me to move around in without that long dress tripping up my legs."

She was honest about that, she used to have to be careful how she moved because the long front and back could easily catch in her legs. Although she wasn't too comfortable at first showing off so much (her parents had been shocked as well first time they saw her new look), she felt she could move a lot easier now. She looked up at her two teammates, "So what do you guys think?"

"It looks great Sakura-chan," Naruto said giving her a thumbs up after getting over his shock.

Sasuke only nodded, although he had to admit it was a vast improvement. He also wondered how much stronger she and Naruto had gotten. Although he knew that Sakura was technically the weakest member he had seen her grow over time when they were put into this team. Looking at her now, and the look of fire in the other girl's eyes was something new as well. He watched as the pink haired girl went over talking to Ino as the girls caught up. It also came to him that she once didn't call him Sasuke-kun or even cast a glance at him. That was odd as the girl always tried to catch his eye, even after their deal. Was it possible that the girl was finally becoming more mature? He hadn't even realized that he had been noticed by Naruto staring at Sakura. The blonde was grinning under his mask as he thought he saw that same look on Neji's face when he looked at Tenten.

'_So is the cold bastard finally warming up?'_ Naruto thought to himself and to all the fun he could have with this later on. His thoughts were broken off as another adult joined the group, this one by basically jumping onto the back of his father.

"Hey there, miss me?" Anko said as she latched onto her man. It had been a very long month, there had been times she had been tempted to sneak off and see what Kakashi was doing, plus finding a little alone time together. But she was business first type of person, but now she could finally have her fun.

Kakashi chuckled as he felt her against him, wishing he didn't have his thick combat vest on as he was missing feeling her press against his back, as he did his best to look at her. "First off yes, and second, I see you couldn't resist to shape a mini-you out of one of my genins."

"Oh please I didn't go that far," Anko waved it off, "Besides she doesn't like snakes or bleeding people so it's not like I could make her totally into a short version of me."

Kakashi sweat dropped at that, "Uh good then…so are you planning on getting off my back anytime soon?"

"Nope, I feel comfy here," She grinned at him. "Besides I'm not that heavy."

"So you say," Kakashi meant to say it under his breath. Yeah he loved the woman, but having a person on your back too its toll on you after some time. Unfortunately she had heard him and that did make her jump off his back, spun him around to face her.

"What did you say?" Anko demanded, "Are you saying I'm heavy or something?"

Now Kakashi knew he was getting into dangerous territory, weight issues with a woman all men knew to avoid. Sure she had said 'heavy' and not that great taboo word of 'fat', but it was implied. So he did what any male would do, he would lie through his teeth. "Of course not but I nearly pulled my back climbing up a cliff one handed with Sasuke during training. Still a little sore back there."

Anko looked at him for a moment but the damn thing was, it was hard to tell when he was lying or telling the truth, with the exceptions for his excuses for being late. That damn relaxed voice and body expression coupled with so little of his face showing helped with that. But at any rate she had missed seeing him too much to really care and decided to let it slid. "Well at any rate I think you'll be surprised with the girl, I think I did some of my best work there."

Kakashi smiled at her, "I'll be looking forward to it."

"Ah Kakashi my eternal rival!" Gai's booming voice was heard.

Kakashi sighed, "Of course now he shows up." He turned to face Gai and his three students as they walked to the large group of genins and Jonins. Gai and Lee looked as fired up as usual, Neji looked the same as ever although Tenten was wearing her usual ninja clothing with full gear. Tenten originally wanted to put on this nice dress she had for today but Gai said that a true ninja should be ready for action at all time, and she should looked professional for the entire village with so many visitors around. Tenten didn't really get it but Gai had been unusually insistent for some reason. Looking around Tenten found it odd that Ino, Choji and Kiba as well as Hinata also seemed to be fully geared up. It was a bit odd but she just shrugged it off, maybe it was something that had been passed on to the Jonins.

Little did she know that on the request of their senseis that the others were wearing their normal ninja gear instead of civilian clothing. It wasn't too odd a request but it had come out of the blue which was a bit odd for them.

"So Kakashi, even though three of your students have made it this far in comparison to my two," Gai said not noticing the slight wince from Tenten. "My students will still out perform to make up for it, and show them which team has the most flames of youth."

"Uh-huh, sure, whatever you say," Kakashi sighed.

Gai pointed his finger at the masked man, "There you go with that too cool and hip attitude!"

Naruto of course just had to mess with his 'Uncle' when the man came onto the scene. This was a first that had happened and he just had to comment on it, knowing Gai's reaction this was just too good an opportunity to pass up. "Hey I just realized, my dad actually beat you to a place on time and you're the one running late, Uncle Gai."

At that all conversations going on stopped dead as everyone suddenly came into the same realization. Kakashi hadn't even realized it as he had gotten here on time for his son so he hadn't thought about it. Kakashi looked around to see the shocked expressions on everyone's faces. He wasn't always that late was he? He could arrive on time, well sometimes, occasionally, well when it was really important and couldn't be put off he could get there on time. He just didn't see the point most of the other time. Although he did admit, the look of sheer horror on Gai's face that he had 'lost' again to him was amusing.

Gai actually fell to his hands and knees as a wave of despair could almost be seen about his person.

"Gai-sensei, are you alright?" Lee shouted at his fallen hero.

"Oh what cruel day it is when I can not even beat my eternal rival to a meeting point," Gai said in a depressed tone. It didn't last long as he jumped up and pointed to the heavens. "Then I shall always arrive a full hour earlier from now on!"

"Yes so will I Gai-sensei!" Lee shouted out to him.

"Yes, and this will give us more time to train as well," Gai proclaimed as both Tenten and Neji gave matching dark looks to Naruto. The fact that sometimes Gai called for training in the early hours of the morning and might now be even an hour earlier was not pleasant for two of his genins.

"Remind me to thank you for this later, Hatake," Neji said to Naruto with narrowed eyes.

"Yes I think I would like that as well," Tenten said with a glint in her eye that Naruto had seen before. Usually right before she unleashed some unholy number of very sharp and deadly weapons at a target. Naruto gulped, sometimes he wished having his fun didn't blow up in his face like this at times.

Anko chuckled at the sight and noticed how Hinata and Naruto hadn't been more then a foot apart the entire time she had seen them. It was kind of cute in a way, she bet the young girl had been missing Naruto almost as much as Anko had missed seeing Kakashi. Almost, meaning that there were a few things an adult missed that a girl her age shouldn't know what she was missing. Maybe in a few years things would change. Although she had hoped that Hinata would be a bit more open, at least Sakura was willing to be less uptight.

She walked over to the short haired Hyuga girl and placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned down a bit. "You know, you could pull the zipper down some more on that jacket if you ever wanted to get more of Naruto's attention."

Hinata blushed at what Anko suggesting, she couldn't allow herself to do something so brazen in public, let alone with Naruto right next to her. Sure she was wearing a shirt under her jacket but it just showed too much for her. She just wasn't comfortable with her body, hence the jackets she wore.

Anko got a glint in her eye, teasing the girl was always so much fun. She suddenly reached to the zipper, "Here maybe just a few more centimetres."

"A-Anko-sensei!" Hinata panicked not sure what to do.

"Hey don't touch Hinata-chan like that," Naruto said to Anko although a part of him was interesting in seeing a bit more.

"Oh relax, I'm just making her more-Ow! Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!" Anko wailed as Kurenai grabbed one of her ears and pulling her away from her student.

"What have I told you about teasing Hinata?" Kurenai said in an even tone. She had moved over to intervene when she saw what was going on. Throughout the joint training, Anko had seen how easy it was to have what Anko thought of was 'fun' with Hinata. So Kurenai had to jump into the middle of things and settle Anko down. This was one of the few ways she could get the slightly younger woman to stop.

"Okay, okay I'll stop, now let go before you pull my ear off!" Anko yelled as Kurenai let go. Anko pouted as she rubbed her ear. She glared at Kurenai for spoiling her fun and then at Kakashi. "Hey I thought as the boyfriend it was your duty to prevent things like this?"

"Sorry, caught me by surprise and Asuma was ready to jump in if I did and I didn't want to start a brawl." Kakashi said with a shrug as he wrapped her up in his arms. He had to admit she kind of looked cute when she acted all childish and pouted like that. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?" He whispered into her ear.

She had a small grin on her face, "Maybe later."

"Yeah like I need to see this," Naruto muttered to himself, sure he liked the fact his dad and his 'aunt' were happier these days. Didn't mean he liked to see it when they got like this.

"Well looks like they're starting," Ino said seeing a different chunin walk into the arena.

Genma Shiranui walked out onto the field, he was a special jonin that always wore this bandana and had a senbon needle between this teeth. Many make jokes that one day he would stab his tongue or something. He was now the replacement Proctor for the final rounds of the chunin exam. As he took walked to the center of the stadium a hush fell over the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final rounds of the chunin exams." He said in a loud voice that carried over to the crowd above him. "This is the final round will be a tournament elimination round. The fights will end with either one or both withdrawing, signalling that they give up. If I feel the opponent can't continue to fight I can stop the fight and if the fight continues after I declare a winner, I can and will disqualify someone. In the case someone dies, well it's obvious the winner will be the person that's still alive."

"In this anything goes as long as you don't attack the stands, if anyone is found too reckless and are endangering the crowd I will kick you out of this exam." He looked around to the genins in the stands and nodded. "Alright now that you know the rules everyone get to the waiting positions. The rounds will go as they are shown on the board up there."

There was a large board above the stands that had many names on them. The fights in order it would seem would be Sakura vs Ami for round one, Naruto vs Gendo next, Temari vs Shikamaru, Neji vs Shino, Lee vs Dosu and finally Sasuke vs Gaara.

"Hey was that the same order as when we were told?" Sakura asked looking at the board, she was sure that the order had been changed slightly. They were fighting all the same people but the matches looked to have been switched.

"She's right," Shino said looking at the names.

"I guess they wanted to change things up a little," Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "Now you all better get to your places and Sakura since you're up first get ready."

Sakura nodded her head as everyone walked to the place where only the genins would be. It was a special section on the lowest level of the stadium stands that was reserved only for those waiting for their fight. Along the way Sakura was mentally preparing herself, she had spent all month waiting for this and she wouldn't lose. Although it also meant that when she won she would most likely be facing Naruto next. She wasn't sure how she felt about facing her friend, but Anko had prepared her for this, that she might have to fight her friends.

At any rate she was pretty sure she wouldn't make it all the way to the end, but you didn't need to in order to make chunin. Besides, her real goal was just to beat that Mist girl that had hurt Ino. That was her primary goal, anything after that, well she would deal as it came to her.

Naruto watched Sakura and she was really focused, he walked next to Sasuke. "Man she's really serious."

Sasuke nodded but didn't comment, he knew this was personal for the girl. Her friend had been hurt by her opponent and it was payback for that. That was something that he could relate to, although his was on a whole other level, but still he knew what she was feeling. The fact she had so much focus, it got him interested in seeing just how much stronger she had become.

Up in a special section of the stands two of the world's mightiest leaders in the ninja world sat in their formal white robes. The first was the older Third Hokage sitting on a white chair as he watched on. Sitting next to him was the Kazekage of Suna, someone the Third had many dealings with over the years. Although he didn't know the younger man personally, they had spoken together many times since their villages held a formal alliance since the last Great Ninja War. The Kazekage had taken to wearing a mask at times so you could only see the eyes and part of the face. It wasn't uncommon as the Third could name a few of his own ninja that wore masks, two of those having the name of Hatake.

The Kazekage looked at the names being put up on the board, "I was told that my son Gaara would be fighting sooner than this."

"Oh yes sorry about that old friend," The Hokage said to him. "But the new chunin in charge wanted to mix up the fights, plus given that Kakashi Hatake was training Sasuke Uchiha, well we were all a little worried the man might be running late. So it was moved to the end, I hope that doesn't bother you."

"No it's just a surprise from what my children told me. At any rate it only enhances the climate of the first round eliminations. I'm eager like many to see how the last of your Uchiha clan stands up against my son." The Kazekage told the Hokage.

Although under the skin there was a more sinister face, that of Orochimaru as he watched on. For months he had been posing at the Kazekage for Suna. When he had came to the Fourth Kazekage for this little plan the man had been for it. After all the daimyo had been slowly cutting funding to Suna for years after the last war, plus the fact that Konoha was taking over ninja missions that they should have had originally stung their pride. It had been easy to convince him of a joint mission to at first weaken the village. But when the Kazekage had learned that Orochimaru planned to utterly destroy the village and during the chunin exams the man's convictions had waivered slightly. Mainly due to how many might see a village that broke not only a truce, but used the chunin exams for this plot.

Killing all the civilians also was frowned upon, but Orochimaru wanted to ensure the village would never recover and without the civilian population for infrastructure it would never recover. So when Orochimaru felt that his 'partner' might be a problem the solution was easy enough. Kill the man, take his face and dump the body in the dessert. It had been all too easy, the man had let his guard down and Orochimaru struck him dead before he knew what had happened. So for months he had been setting this up.

He had noticed the slight build up of military force but nothing in the areas where the combined forces were stationed. Obviously when that one man had been killed trying to deliver what he knew, the old man had known something was wrong. Orochimaru grinned under the mask, his old teacher was such a fool. He had no way of knowing that his own apprentice was here next to him or that the village had been infiltrated by two ninja forces.

Then there were his own people waiting in the forest, the summoning scrolls he gave them would allow them to summon some of the larger and more dangerous snakes. So while the great walls of this village fall on the outside, the village will burn on the inside and he would finally finish off his old teacher. There was a bit of symmetry to it all, he who was once up for Hokage, the one that would lead and if necessary sacrifice themselves for the village. Of course since he had been passed over it had been an eye opening experience for him.

So the man that could have been the one to protect this village, now was the instrument of its destruction.

And to make matters even better was that he could also put a large wrench into the plans of his other enemies. Mainly the Akatsuki, they wanted the Tailed-Beasts, for what even Orochimaru didn't know. But now that two of the human hosts were in this village it would mean that he could get rid of both of them. With luck the Kyuubi boy might even get killed in his match, the Mist boy was obviously trained in the old school way of thinking for that village. But at any rate the boy would die here and when he was done with the Suna he would ensure that the One-Tail was taken care off too when the boy's usefulness was over with.

Not too far away from the arena, the form of Jiraiya was standing on a one of the taller buildings in the village as he looked out over the forests before him, with his trusted telescope. It had more uses then just spying on the pretty women in the open air baths after all. Currently he was looking at the targets he was assigned to, after all the plan seemed to be going well so far. He looked over his shoulder at the stadium and a part of him wished he was there. After all he really wanted to se how well the kid did in the fights, the boy had some hidden talents. Oh well, things were about to get very interesting today anyway he mused.

**Next up chapter 58: The Battle of Leaf and Mist**


	58. The Battle of Leaf and Mist

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 58: The Battle of Leaf and Mist**

Sakura felt a wide range of emotions as she walked into the small artificial field where the battles would take place. She could hear the crowd cheer as the first fight would start and already she was feeling her stomach tie into knots. She had never had so many people looking on her at this moment, and she was thankful her parents wouldn't be here. She didn't want them here just in case something happened to her and they were fine with it. Sakura knew her parents didn't want to see her fight because they didn't want to see her hurt. It was hard enough on them to have their only child as a ninja. But still, even with that with all the people here it was kind of imposing.

She walked onto the field and towards the center as she spotted the Mist girl, Ami. The other girl was still covered in those bandages that Sakura knew were razor shard with metal lining. She bet that those bandages could also act as armour if needed. She had spent the month thinking up all kinds of strategies with this opponent. Looking at the smug look on the other girl's face turned the knot in Sakura's stomach into a fire. This was the girl that had nearly killed or ended the ninja career of her best friend. Ino was the closest thing to a sister she had in this life, she could still see Ino's pale face as she slept in that bed after the match. Sakura felt her fists clench and had to force herself to relax a bit, Anko kept telling her during the training that emotions could be a fuel for a fighter's resolve, but too much emotion driving your actions would lead to your downfall.

Sakura needed to keep her mind sharp and pushed down the fire a bit, it was still there but she was going to use her emotions, not let them use her. This girl was dangerous and Sakura would take no chances.

The Proctor went over the rules, they were the same as before and when he asked if they understood they both nodded. He moved back and he began the match, Sakura wasn't surprised when the other girl launched an attack right off the bat. Throwing several shurikens as Sakura, it was a standard type of opening move also with the insane training that Anko but her through it was easy to deflect them all with her metal tonfas. She stood her ground defiantly at the other girl.

"What are you still using basics, I thought Mist ninja were supposed to be bad asses, or is that only the boys?" Sakura was also taught to never underestimate attacking a ninja's pride by Anko.

Ami's eye got a small tick at that. "Fine, I was planning on playing with you like the other weak Konoha girl but if you want me too I'll be all too happy to cut up that face of yours."

Quickly the girl's hands went into several seals, "Water Style: Water Bullets."

Ami opened her mouth as small bullet like objects of water flew out at amazing speeds. Sakura tried to use her tonfas to deflect them like last time but the force of them was much greater. It was like feeling softballs hitting her weapons, that made her slow down as her weapons were knocked off course from the impact. Gaps opened up in her defence as she felt the bullets starting to hit her body. She was thankful for the new armour mesh she was wearing. If she had been wearing her older clothes she would really had been hurt but she knew there would be some nasty bruises from where she was hit. One hit her in the face she, the blow made her stagger back as she tried clear her head.

She saw the other girl raise her arms and the bandages coming at her, Sakura knew that there was no defence she had for that, so like Anko said to her, when you can't defend go on the offensive they usually don't plan on it. Sakura ran forward trying to avoid the bandages and it was working, Ami hadn't expected someone to run straight at her knowing that her bandages were razor sharp. A few of the bandages got close enough to cut her, but instead of cutting into flesh, sparks flew off Sakura's body.

The ninja mesh was a very sturdy kind that Konoha made for their ninja, it couldn't stop stabbings and blunt force would still be felt and could still injure, but against slashing it held up pretty good. That was the reason Anko had changed her look for the mesh, this would help Sakura get around the slashing effect of the bandages. Ami realized this too late as Sakura got in close and started to throw blow after blow with the tonfas. Ami's bandages did absorb some of the damage but blunt force was still something you felt. Eventually the Mist girl managed to get some distance between her and Sakura as she tried to plan her next move.

Sakura however could see she had hurt her opponent but she was feeling it too, the blows from before were starting to be felt so they were even at the moment. But Sakura wasn't going to let the other girl have the offensive, she had a battle plan and it was now time to use it. She placed her tonfa behind her lower back where the holders were located and went to start her own hand seals.

"Water style: Aqua Tower," Sakura called out as she slammed her hand into the ground. The great thing with this stadium was that you could use the natural elements to your advantage. It wasn't advertised but Anko had given her a hint the other day. The hint was that there was water running under the stadium and not just in the pipes for plumbing, but small hidden pockets of water under the ground. This was to test a genin's ability to sense the elements around them. Well since she knew there was water she had been trying to find it since the fight started, it took time as she was still getting used to using her water element but now she knew where it was.

She wasn't strong enough yet to make enough water out of the moisture in the air like the Mist ninja seemed to be but this was enough to get her started. The tower of water rushed towards the surprised girl as the Mist ninja jumped to the side to avoid the crushing water.

Ami looked around the area, now very wet from all the water the pink haired girl was nowhere in sight. "You know I was thinking this wasn't going to be a challenge but I guess I was wrong. But if you think that using water against me is going to work, then you're wrong."

"Well if you fight fire with fire," Sakura's voice was heard behind the girl as Ami threw up her arm to block a kunai with the amour of her bandages. "Then you should fight water with water I figure."

Ami grunted as the bandages barely held, they were more for attack then protection. And the kunai was already cutting through the material that the thin metal was woven into. So Ami kicked out, her leg swinging outward and hit Sakura in the ribs. But instead of a solid hit, Sakura turned into a pile of water.

"A water clone!?" Ami yelled out as she looked around to see puddles of water slowly rising up and forming more Sakuras.

Up in the stands everyone was watching Sakura's fight with interest. Especially Sakura's team and friends.

"When did she learn to do that?" Ino yelled out feeling a little jealous, it seemed that Sakura had grown a lot in the past month, she was kind of jealous of that.

Anko smirked, "Why my training of course."

"And who gave you the scrolls to teach her those moves?" Kakashi asked his girlfriend who at least had the common sense to look a little sheepish at taking all the credit.

"Okay you got me there, but I did all the grunt work," Anko told him and then back to the match. "Well most of it, Kurenai gave her a few tips as well given that Sakura is a natural with chakra control. She's got a few new genjutsus in her deck now."

"Wow really?" Naruto said excited as she looked at the fight, "When is she going to do that?"

"She already has," Sasuke said with a smirk. Naruto looked over to see his eyes had turned into a sharingan but now they turned back to normal. If Naruto didn't know any better he swore that Sasuke almost looked…proud of Sakura.

And he was, Sasuke had missed when it had happened but when Sakura had disappeared he had an idea. So he activated his eyes and looked through the genjutsu that Sakura had cast. He had to admit that it was a very good one. But Sakura was running low on chakra, she was pulling everything out to crush this Mist girl. If she didn't end this soon, she was going to run out of chakra and then Ami would take full advantage of that. He had to admit that Sakura had changed a lot since the academy days, especially when he saw her today. She looked more mature and her fighting skills were impressive for a genin. She wasn't on his or Naruto's level still but this battle was showing that she had talent.

Who knew what kind of ninja she would be in the future, but looking at her know he got the feeling she could be a very powerful one if she kept this kind of training up. Sasuke was surprised by his line of thinking, this was the girl that usually had been mostly brains in the academy and who used to bother him all the time for dates. But now, she was had not only kept her word to his request but she was surprising him. Sakura had trained and was fighting to the honour of her friend, a motivation that he could get behind. He saw a fire in the girl that he hadn't seen before and that sheer determination reminded him a bit of himself. How he trained all those years at first to be noticed by his father, to catch up to his old rival and hero, his brother. Then it was to catch up to Itachi to make him pay for what he had done.

Sasuke knew that determination to become stronger, he had seen it in Naruto and now in Sakura. At the moment he wasn't sure what he was feeling towards his female team mate but this day, Sakura Haruno had gotten the attention of Sasuke Uchiha.

Back in the fight Ami was getting frustrated with the water clones, she didn't know this skill herself unfortunately. Sure the water clones were solid and used a lot less chakra then say a shadow clone, but these clones were pissing her off. Where was the original, that was what she wanted to know as she used the bandages to cut down all the water clones as they came.

What she didn't know was that Sakura was making the other girl used up as much chakra and physical strength as possible wearing the other girl down. Using chakra for the bandages and fighting the water clones was the perfect way to help with that but she was running out of time. The illusion she had cast wouldn't last forever. When the pillar of water had hid her from view she cast an illusion that Kurenai had taught her. It was mainly a veil type illusion, as long as the person stood still they could remain basically invisible. It was a genjutsu used for scouting when you had to hid for long periods of time watching over an area.

But maintaining it was slowly draining her chakra, it wasn't much as it was simple and her chakra control meant that she put in the perfect amount into it, so no wasted charka but it was still draining her and the water clones weren't helping. She was trying to get her clones to manoeuvre the other girl closer. So far it had been working.

"Where the hell are you!?" Ami thrashed around wildly trying to get the real girl, wherever she was.

"Here!" Sakura yelled out from behind as Ami felt an explosion of pain. Sakura moved and used her weapons but this time it wasn't in a swinging arc. This time she held the weapons straight with the smaller end extended just beyond her fists with the long ends resting against her arms. She punched out with straight jabs to Ami's back. She hit the spin, the kidneys, shoulder blades, nerve clusters that Anko showed her. The bandages might have acted like a light armour but against blunt blows, but theses blows were smaller and more focused. Plus Sakura could hit really hard even without the training.

Ami cried out from the pain and tried to fight back but Sakura kept herself behind the girl. The Mist girl stumbled around as Sakura started to take the girl down piece by piece until finally one final blow to the back of Ami's skull was the final moment. The girl crumpled to the ground like a rag doll, Sakura panting over her as she was declared the winner. Sakura smiled a bit before her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. She felt completely wiped at the moment, she wasn't sure how much more of this she could take but this was as far as she wanted to go. She completed her goal.

Up in the stands her friends were cheering for her.

**-Naruto vs Gendo-**

Naruto couldn't wait for his chance when his time came. He gave Sakura a quick congratulations before he left for his own battle. He was the first to arrive at the field and ready to kick ass. He was so full of energy that he near nearly bouncing with the effort. Gendo looked slightly pissed and he looked like he wanted to take the defeat of his teammate against Naruto.

"Once I'm done with you, if I meet that pink haired girl I'm going to crush her. Ami got over confident and lost because of it but I won't make that mistake." Gendo said to him.

Naruto only grinned under his mask at the other boy, "Good, I don't want to have to finish this too quickly anyway."

"Alright you two know the rules," the Proctor said to them. "Begin!"

Gendo didn't waste any time as he came at Naruto, he pulled the thick sword from the holder on his back freeing the weapon. Naruto did the same as his smaller blade took on a white glow as he blocked the attack. Naruto grinned under his mask, it took time but he felt that he finally managed to get the sword to glow when he wanted it to for once. Up in the stands Kakashi grinned as he saw it as well, he was glad that he had the blade reforged. It felt right for Naruto to use the White Fang's chakra blade in this battle and the fact that Naruto seemed to have gotten the hang of putting his chakra into it was a bonus.

"An interesting blade but something that small will shatter," Gendo said looking coldly at Naruto as their swords were locked against each other.

"This blade has been through war and carried by legends, it will never break to someone like you," Naruto told him confidently. Although on the inside he was thinking that the other guy was right, the sword had been broken once and he feel the blade starting to give. It was a great sword but it wasn't meant to take this kind of force. Unlike the other guy's sword, it was larger and although a slower weapon could taken and deal out a lot more punishment.

Naruto pushed off as he took a few steps back but was surprised the other genin didn't slow down. Apparently the other boy trained himself to move fast even with the large weapon. Naruto went on the defensive as he parried the blows instead of stopping them, it would save the damage to his own blade. The sword fight was a fast and furious thing, Naruto with speed and agility on his side and the other genin with a powerful defensive that Naruto couldn't get past. It was an impressive skills to see for those that young.

In one moment Naruto ducked under the large blade as Naruto's white blade tried to go up in a vertical cut, the other boy dodged this by leaning back. Naruto didn't stop though, he used his momentum to spin him himself around and try for a low horizontal cut to the legs. But the spin took too much time and Gendo was able to see what was going to happen, so the boy jumped over the blade as both boys went into a guard position.

Naruto had hoped for a win that time if only he had been just a little faster than the boy's legs might have been taken out.

Gendo had spared with many that used swords in his training but this style was totally unique. It was wild and flowed, there was some structure to it but it could change at will. Most styles you have set moves and many learned only those moves but this boy looked to be making them up on the spot. At least that's how it felt to him, there was no way the boy's style could account for those types of moves ahead of time. Even sword fighters that had a free flow style and improvised didn't seem to have this boy's natural ability to make things up as he went along.

"Tell me, what style is that?" Gendo asked out of curiosity.

Naruto had been thinking long and hard about this for a long time, but during his training month he had finally got the perfect name. He thrust his sword out pointing at the other boy, "This is my own unique fighting style. I use everything that I've been taught over the years and my own abilities, I haven't gotten around to naming it but you're the first to hear the name. This is the Hatake White Fang Style!"

Kakashi's head made a small jerk up as his visible eye widened for a split second. He had been caught by surprise by the name that Naruto had shouted out. Then as the shock wore off he smiled broadly under his mask at his son. He kind of wished his father was here to hear that, even though that Naruto wasn't the grandson of Sakumo Hatake by blood, he was in spirit. He had never felt more pride for Naruto than ever in that moment.

Anko who was at his side noticed the look, normally people wouldn't be able to see what Kakashi was thinking or feeling. But those few that were close to the man knew him enough to guess, and Anko was very close to him. She grinned as she slightly bumped him with her shoulder. "The brat sure has a way of surprising people huh?"

Kakashi only chuckled as he nodded, not really trusting his voice to give away the emotion he was hiding.

Eventually Gendo was getting tired of them playing around, it was time to end this whole affair. He jumped back giving them some space as he buried his sword into ground and started hand seals. Naruto saw this and got put away his blade, he would need his own hands free as he started his own. Naruto finished first as several clones came into view but before they could do anything the other boy finished his own hand seals. With all the extra water on the ground thanks to Sakura and Ami's match there was plenty of water for the Mist ninja to create a thick fog.

"Oh man not this crap again," Naruto muttered remembering this same thing with a certain ex-Mist ninja in Wave. He heard his clones being attack in the fog, most likely because the other boy couldn't tell which was the real one and which was the fake. He listened but the other boy was very silent, Naruto only had a small amount of time before the attacks would reach him. Thankfully coming up with plans in the last moment was something he excelled at.

Up in the stands those that knew Naruto were getting a bit worried when the mist set in. In one particular stands sat the Hyuga family, minus Neji as he was with the others given he had a match coming up. They were all watching interested in what would happen with this match, especially Hinata who was watching worried about Naruto.

"Farther is Naruto does well in the chunin exams will that go towards proving himself to the elders?" Hanabi asked watching the fog.

Hiashi was surprised by the question but thought about it, "I suppose so, it's rare to be made a chunin at the first attempt plus there are elders here watching."

"Oh," Hanabi paused for a moment, "so if Naruto gets accepted will I be able to call him Nii-chan when he marries Hinata?"

Both Hiashi and Hinata were surprised by that, and Hinata's face got all red at the thought. Hiashi looked at his eldest child as Hinata looked down at her fingers. She felt her face all hot at the thought of her actually marrying Naruto. It was a nice image for her to think about but it was also embarrassing how Hanabi brought it up like that.

Suddenly there was a shout from Naruto from the center of the fog and Hinata looked up worried that he had been hit. When suddenly something large shot out from the fog, it wasn't clear what it was at first as some of the fog clung to whatever it was. When it cleared everyone was shocked to see Naruto riding on the back of a giant toad with battle armour on. They were very high in the air as Naruto laughed out as they continue to rise up above the fog.

"What the hell is that, a giant frog!?" Ino screamed out in both surprise and disgust.

"Actually I believe that's a toad," Shino said in his usual calm voice.

"That's a summon animal isn't it?" Anko asked looking at it. "When the hell did he learn that?"

"I have an idea," Kakashi said watching.

"Alright it actually worked out this time!" Naruto shouted out happily. He wasn't sure what type of toad he was going to summon as it could have been anyone. At least it hadn't been someone small like Gamakichi or worse that Mr. Gamariki guy. That guy really made him uncomfortable, there was just something wrong about a giant green cross-dressing frog with huge lipstick lips and eye liner. The first time he met that guy when Jiraiya had summoned him, Naruto just didn't get along with them. They would butt heads on everything.

He looked down at the toad and he didn't know this one, well whatever he looked pretty strong and he could really jump. "Hey thanks for the lift."

"Not a problem, so you're the new contract holder huh?" the toad said in a gruff voice. "Sorry to cut it short but we're starting to fall, I hope you got a plan."

"You bet," Naruto grinned as he went into the hand seals. Thanks to Jiraiya he had finally gotten the hang of his wind chakra now it was time to try the new move the old pervert had promised to teach him. "Wind Style Hurricane!" Naruto yelled out as he thrust his palm out while holding his wrist. Suddenly a large blast of wind shot out over the area blowing away all the fog.

Gendo had to stick to the ground with chakra to keep his place in the earth without getting blown away. When the wind stopped he looked up in time to see Naruto fall back down on top of a large toad creature. Gendo hadn't known about this ability, then again the boy hadn't done much in that previous fight he had in the elimination rounds. No matter, he would cut the boy down to size but first. He started his own jutsu as all the water started to move around the area.

"Time to stop playing around," Gendo said as he finished his seal with Naruto just standing there waiting full in confidence. Gendo thought that the boy would pay for his arrogance for that. "Water style: Water Hydra!"

Several large heads came out of all the puddles, it was like a water dragon only there were at least five different heads.

"Crap!" Naruto hadn't planned for something like that, he had never even heard of such a thing. "Hurry up and dodge!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" the battletoad said as he jumped out of the way of the deadly focused water. It crashed into the ground with devastating force but there were too many and they were too fast. The toad was hit hard first, he disappeared back to where the toads became from before he got too seriously injured. It was too bad too, he had been enjoying himself until that moment. Without something to stand on Naruto ended up falling, without anything to stop it, well until one of the water hydra heads slammed into his chest and thus sending him into the ground.

When he hit the ground he was sure a rib or two had been bruised pretty badly, thankfully the Fox should be able to heal that easily enough before the next round. Although at the moment it was hard to get back up as the wind had been knocked out of him.

Gendo grinned at he saw his fallen prey, "You should lay there like a good failure and let your entire village see just how weak the Hidden Leaf has become."

Naruto only laughed as he tried to get up.

"What's so funny?" Gendo said as he started the hand seals against to finish him off.

"That you never bothered to count the puddles," Naruto grinned at him.

Gendo's eyes widened, he looked around in time to see several shadow clones jumping on top of him holding him in place as he struggled to get free. He cursed himself mentally as he had overlooked the battlefield. With his water manipulation he should have felt all the sources of water but the boy had put these clones in a henge. Obviously back when the fog blocked his view, sure you could sense you enemy by feeling them through the fog that you create but if no one moved it was a lot harder. He saw one clone walk around to face him but this didn't hold on to him.

"Oh man this is going to hurt," one clone said to Gendo's left.

"Yeah, sucks to be you," another said.

This clone that was facing him wasn't a shadow clone but an exploding shadow clone. It blew up destroying the shadow clones and sending the Mist genin flying, he skipped a few times on the ground before he slid to a halt. Naruto managed to get up and look at his opponent, the boy didn't seem to be getting up anytime soon.

The Proctor decided to step up and look the boy over, the kid didn't seem to be in any need of dying despite the explosion but he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. He looked to Naruto and saw the boy was standing up holding his ribs. Genma had to admit the kid had a nasty streak with surprises, setting up your shadow clones like that was a good set up. The exploding one had been the icing on the cake for that one.

"The winner is Naruto Hatake," Genma proclaimed.

There were cheers all through the stadium and Naruto couldn't help but wave to them, he looked through it all trying to spot certain people. He saw his dad and his team but it was close to them that he spotted the person he wanted to see most. Hinata was by the rails looking at him and he couldn't help but wave to her.

**-Meanwhile-**

ON the streets of Konoha a trio of travellers walked, they were members of a trading guild looking to set up a trade route with the village. At least that was their cover story, they were actually members of Suna that had infiltrated the village on orders. The three of them were just one of many teams that had infiltrated the village. They were to meet up with two other teams and start the invasion from the inside, their goal was to attack one of the gates and see if they could be opened or make an opening for the outside forces.

That was all the information they were given as it was all they needed. But that was okay with then, as a ninja they knew that knowing too much could be dangerous if they were caught and forced to admit what they knew. Currently they were in a small street with people going about their daily business. One of the men stopped to look at the fruits on sale.

"What are you doing?" the tall one said to the one looking at the fruit.

"I'm hungry okay, who knows when we'll eat," he said annoyed as he looked at an apple for sale.

"You should have thought of that sooner," the last one said.

He just ignored his companions as he replaced the apple and was about to ask how much when suddenly his combat senses went off. He didn't know what set it off but when he looked up he noticed that the store owner was gone. "Hey where did that guy go?"

"We got bigger problems," the tall one said to him sounding worried.

The hungry one looked around and now he knew why he felt his warning senses kick in. It had suddenly gotten too quiet for a street, mainly due to the fact that suddenly everyone had disappeared.

In the shadows a masked ANBU watched the three of them, little did those three know that all the 'civilians' had been ninja and ANBU pretending to be civilians. The ANBU looked at two of his team members and nodded his head.

"Begin the operation," The ANBU said silently.

The three man Suna team didn't know what hit them before it was too late.

**Next up chapter 59: The Battles Continue**


	59. The Battles Continue

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 59: The Battles Continue**

Naruto was pretty happy with his win as he got back to the others. Granted pulling off that summon had been tough, he still wasn't calling up the type of toad he needed all the time, but this time the gamble paid off. Plus that new wind jutsu that Jiraiya taught him really worked out well. He was feeling really good about himself and if this didn't show the kinds of skills to impress those Hyuga elders that he knew where watching, well what else did he have to do to impress them? Naruto knew that in this exam not only would he be judged for being a chunin but also by the elders of Hinata's clan. But then again, Naruto never once backed away from a challenge, he would do it like with any other challenge. Rush forward without a care and win through sheer will and guts.

"Hey nice job out there," Kiba said to him and for Kiba it was very satisfying seeing that Mist ninja get defeated. He still could feel the metal of that sword cutting into him from before. It had been the worse injury that he had ever gotten and in fact scared him a bit. But he had been training himself to get stronger after that defeat as well. He had seen the power he could come up against, and he swore never again to get defeated like that.

Naruto chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, "It was nothing, I just kicked his ass is all."

"Well at any rate that was a very good performance out of you and Sakura," Kakashi said as he stepped towards his son. "You both should be proud."

"Thanks," both genins said at once hearing this.

"I just hope I can go on, I think is used up a lot of strength for that match," Sakura sighed as she went to her pocket. She could feel the small medical supplies that most carried only she had a few extra things. That training with Hinata, she had learned a few things from the other girl. Healing ointments were very nice to have as she pulled one out and tossed it to Naruto. "Here, Hinata helped me make it and you look like you could use a few."

Naruto looked at the small thing and he did apply it, if only for show. He knew that the fox would heal any damage soon but it was best to make it seem like the ointment had worked. He gave it back with thanks as he noticed that Ino was nearly kicking Shikamaru down the stairs to get him to his match. It was kind of funny to watch the two of them, as Ino nagged him about getting down there and that he better win.

"Man, you'd think they were married or something," Naruto muttered.

"I wouldn't know about that," Choji said as he munched on a bag of chips. All excitement was making him hungry after all. "He says that he wouldn't want another women nagging him all the time."

Those that knew of his mother could see what the boy was getting at, then again he was a mirror image of his father, who had married such a woman. It was a bit of a joke that the Nara males were secretly submissive masochist. At least that's what you'd say behind their backs, lazy as some of the males were, you still didn't want to piss them off.

"What do you think?" Shino asked Neji who were both watching as the fight between Temari and Shikamaru started off. Both boys had personal reasons for fighting in this match. Shino however had lost his chance as Naruto took had taken revenge for Kiba's injuries, he didn't mind that though. That ending was better than anything Shino could have come up with anyway. But Neji was still hoping for a fight with Temari after how she had humiliated and hurt Tenten.

Neji was carefully watching the fight, he could tell that both fighters seemed to be the type to plan things out. They were both strategists, something that surprised him about Skikamaru when he saw it in the last part of the exam. But while Shikamaru was laid back and let his opponents do all the work, Temari was the total opposite. She preferred to take the initiative and that's where this fight was going. She was pushing him back all the time with her wind as she had the range on him. Already he had tried his shadow technique but she knew that what his range was. She had drawn a line in the dirt letting her know how far to keep back.

"It doesn't look good for him," Neji commented.

"Yes, but looks are often misleading," Shino said cryptically.

Neji was about to ask what he meant when he saw it, the Nara's shadow had reached beyond the line that Temari had drawn. At first Neji thought that Shikamaru had been holding back but he did it again. It was then that Temari, Neji and Shino all saw that the shadows were being strengthened by the sun going down. Shikamaru was playing for time, if the sun went down far enough then his shadow would reach her no matter what she did.

"Impressive, but can he keep it up?" Neji asked.

"That remains to be seen." Shino said as they watched on.

Temari knew that she was going to have to get this annoying guy down before his plan could be finished. The younger boy was keeping himself hidden from her wind attacks, she couldn't get in closer and the farther away the less power her wind attacks had. It was very annoying for her, especially since she still had the invasion up next. She couldn't waste too much on this boy but she also refused to lose to him either. It was then that he came out as he threw something up into the sky. It was a make shift parachute with a kunai and his shirt. She didn't understand but she went for the attack anyway.

She saw him using his shadow again but smirked as her arms were already swung back for her own attack. Only to freeze as see saw two shadows, a circular one of the object he threw up into the sky. Then his shadow touched it and it suddenly had new life as he came further than she had ever seen it. She mentally cursed, she didn't know that another shadow would actually 'feed' the shadow's power. She jumped out of the way knowing what would happen when that thing touched her.

It chased her on the ground as she focused on just keeping away from it, just for a bit to be able to get out of its reach. As soon as she did she could counter and take him out as he was fully exposed now. When he stopped she smirked, now it was her time. She pulled back and then was just about to use her fan when her body froze. She couldn't move, she looked down in shock but the small shadow line hadn't touched her.

"What's going on?" Temari demanded.

"Every can cast a shadow, even if it is just a little bit, even things like a grove in the earth can cast a shadow if the sun hits it the right way." He told her in a bored tone.

Temari looked to her right and her eyes widened. There next to her was a long grove cut into earth by one of the previous battles. When Sakara's aqua tower had been used it had cut a line into the ground. With the sun as it was now the slight depression in the ground cast a small shadow along the edge. She looked to see a thin trail of shadow coming out of the groove and attached to her foot. She followed it and although its path, she had to squint but she could see a second trail by his feet going into the groove. Temari gritted her teeth as she wondered what this boy would do to her. She remembered the sound girl, this boy could make her do anything now.

"Well get it over with," Temari told him preparing herself for the worse.

"Eh, no real point now," he said lazily. "I'm nearly out of chakra so I think I'll call it quits. Hey proctor I quit okay?"

Genma blinked a few times, "Are you sure kid?"

"Yeah, besides who cares about being a chunin and fighting a girl is just too troublesome," He said.

When the announcement was made that Temari was the winner it was shocking to the audience to say the least. Well there was at least one vocal out burst from the crowd.

"Shikamaru you idiot!" Ino yelled down at him. "Why the hell would you give up? If you think I was hard on you before then you don't know anything, when this is all over I'm going to make sure you're not going to be such a lazy bum anymore!" Ino went on and on and for a moment Shikamaru was wondering if he made the right choice or not as the blonde kept on nagging him.

**Shino vs Neji**

With the last battle over it was time for Neji and Shino to take the field. They stood across from each other. There was no malice between them like in any of the previous fights, they had both made up their minds to do their best out of respect for the other. Neji got into the gentle fist stance as he activated his Byakugan. Shino stood his ground as he lifted his sleeves, a large amount of black bugs swarmed out towards that Hyuga prodigy.

Neji knew enough about Shino's clan to have an idea of what he could expect to happen. With his eyes activated he could follow the insects as they swarmed around him. With speed that made his limbs seem like a blur of motion to most watching, he sent his hands out attacking each and every bug. The gentle fist style, was something that all Hyuga trained in. There were moves that were meant to strike over a hundred times in a manner of seconds. So attacking at the speeds to defend himself from Shino's horde of chakra eating insects was no problem.

The Aburame boy would not be deterred by this as he only intensified his attacks. Keeping to the long range that was his speciality it was his hope to simply keep the other boy at bay and slowly chip away at him. But this was proving more difficult than he had first thought. The problem was that Neji wasn't letting any of his insects latch on. Shino had never faced an opponent that could defend against his attacks like this. Most would just avoid the insects, but Neji stood his ground, never giving an inch as he kept a perfect defence.

Well, Shino was about to test just how effective the Hyuga prodigy had.

Up in the stands, Hinata with her father and sister were watching the fight with interests. Hinata watched in amazement at how Neji was able to keep Shino's bugs from attacking him. Being on the same team as Shino, she knew how hard that was from sparring. She knew that she didn't have the skill her cousin was displaying. She was proud of her decision early to forfeit her match to him. Looking at him now, she knew she had made the right choice. He deserved to go this far and she hoped that one day she could match Neji in skill.

"Father, he seems to be doing very well." Hanabi commented watching the fight. "Shouldn't Uncle be here to see this?"

"He's here," He told his youngest as he looked to see where his twin brother was. Given the nature of the chunin exams security was always important. Several of the Hyuga clan were used to look for traps, hidden weapons and other such things in the crowd of people when they entered. He looked up across the field to see his twin by the stair entrance watching his son. He couldn't see the expression on his younger sibling but he knew it had to be prideful and with good reason. Neji was the strongest of his generation in their clan, even among the rest of the village.

Then something happened, Shino had started to use a very large amount of bugs to swarm around the Hyuga prodigy. Neji had no where to move now as the swarm started to envelope him. He sighed watching this, no matter how good he was at the gentle fist, there was just no way to defend against that. At least that was until Neji not only surprised him but everyone else there. A blue sphere came into play as Neji seemed to rotate on the ground.

"Kaiten," He muttered in surprise at the technique. It was an advanced move that normally only the main house could master. It was the fact that a branch family member could use that, and at such a young age, was just unheard of. "It seems that Neji is more promising then any thought."

"I think I saw you use that in training, what is it?" Hanabi asked her father.

"Something that I think even you're uncle didn't expect." He told her.

That was true, on the other side of the stadium where he was stationed for security, Hizashi watched as his son used a move that only adults could perform. No matter what the outcome of this match he was already proud at what his son had accomplished. Although he was wondering how he had trained himself to do that. Neji certainly didn't ask for help. Well it would be something to ask him later when this was all over with.

Tenten smiled as she watched Neji perform the move, she had been training with him for the whole month to get to this point. She felt glad that she was able to be of use to Neji getting stronger. He had even thanked her saying that he couldn't have done this without her. She felt her cheeks flush a bit remembering his words. Truth was, spending a full month with him just the two of them had been very nice.

Back on the field, Neji was still fighting Shino. Although he had been hoping to hold that move back until later, it was his only trump card but Shino had forced his hand. That said a lot about the mysterious shades wearing boy. Well he would have had to use that at any rate, he looked around his feet. There was a wide circle that was perfectly made into the earth and many of Shino's bugs lay on the ground unmoving.

Shino had never seen or heard of anything like this before, he never knew that the Hyuga clan could do something like that. It was very impressive and very effective. He took stock of the battle so far. Close combat with a Hyuga was suicide so that was out. Mid to long range was where he excelled at but with that ultimate defence Shino couldn't see a way past it. Plus he had lost too much of his colony in this battle. If he went on like this he would kill off his entire colony and to his clan that was unacceptable.

To his clan, the insects were as much a part of them as an organ. They lived in symbiosis, giving them a home and food while they gave the clan power. But that also meant a great responsibility towards their safety. Some risks were just unacceptable.

Shino thought it out as he raised his arm and looked to the Proctor. "I submit this battle."

"You sure kid?" Genma asked.

Shino nodded and Genma was forced to call the match over. Shino knew that as he was now, he couldn't beat the other boy. He didn't have anything that could get past that defence and he would only loss his colony and chakra in the process. It was the only logical thing to do, to pull back from a losing fight. There was no dishonour in this and he felt that it was the right choice at the moment.

The Hokage looked on pleased by how things were going, so far the Leaf genins were both proofing themselves in both skill and honour. It was nice to see the younger generation doing so well.

"I hope that you don't mind your daughter winning like that," The Third said to the Kazakage next to him.

"Not at all, although that isn't the kind of victory that one can be proud of." Was the response he got from the masked man sitting next to him.

"Yes well the Nara boy obviously thought things through. There is no shame in admitting your limits, in fact not knowing them could lead to much worse than losing a simple fight." The Third commented as he saw Shino also seemed to know this lessen well.

"I suppose but those that aren't strong enough to win, aren't suitable for the battlefield as they will only die anyway."

The Third paused as he felt a sense of familiarity with this conversation. It was not unlike the kinds of talks he used to have with people like Danzo or his own student Orochimaru. He knew that the Kazekage was a bit of a cold and distant man. But had he recently decided on that line of thought as well? It was a bit depressing thought that someone like a Kage would go with that line of thinking. That had been the reason why he had passed his student over for the position of Hokage to Jiraya's apprentice Minato.

Then again given what was about to happen today, maybe he shouldn't be totally surprised by the Kazekage's new attitude. The Hokage thought back to all the work he had done yesterday to prepare for the coming storm.

_-Flashback to Yesterday-_

The Hokage was in his office as he had finished writing the last of the orders to be sent. The final exam would soon take place and he needed to prepare. He had a few different piles of orders, each one for a select group. The first pile was to his ANBU forces, the next would be for the Jonins and Special Jonins, the one after that for a few of the chunins that he felt would be trusted with a few special missions. Lastly was a pile for the jonin senseis.

There wasn't much time left, but the planning had been in the works for some time.

"Are you sure we have everything set up, Hokage-sama?" Asked a man in a cloak with the hood pulled up so you couldn't see the face within it.

"We've been planning for awhile now, but you can't plan for everything. This is the best we can do and hope that to any changes that occur we can handle."

The man nodded with a sign, "I just hope she doesn't kill me when this is all over."

"She's a professional she knows what kind of sacrifices we have to make as a ninja." The Hokage told him.

The man seemed to wince at a thought, "Yeah but she's going to be pissed. Plus I didn't like being locked away all this time either." The man coughed into his hand. "It was damn cold at night and I think I caught a cold in the underground areas that Ibiki uses for torture."

"It was one of the few places where no one would find you," The Hokage got up and handed him a scroll. "You're orders are here, I'm having my ANBU deliver the rest."

"What of the traitor?" The man asked before he made to leave the office.

"He's been watched by our best and also been fed as much false information that I believe he will take without becoming suspicious."

_-Present-_

Now the Hokage looked down at the arena full of people, many didn't know what was about to take place. In fact even he wasn't sure what was going to happen, he had only to guess what was going to happened today and plan around that. But at any rate the operation would have already started, first with the ANBU teams making sweeps through the village, and the chunins would be already started with their work. The children and civilians were top priority of course. The old man just hoped that they could lessen the coming bloodshed.

**Lee vs Dosu**

"Now it is my turn!" Lee shouted out as he couldn't wait for his time to fight.

"That's right Lee, show them your flames of youth!" Gai yelled out to his protégé.

"Yes Gai-sensei!" Lee shouted out as he literally jumped off the railing into the arena to the surprise of everyone.

"That idiot, he might break his legs if he's not careful," Tenten shouted out as she raced to the edge to look to see Lee running out towards the field. She was a little dumbfounded as she had expected his legs to break under the strain of that fall. After all, with all those weights he puts on, she had expected he should have buried himself into the ground from a fall like that if he wasn't careful. She looked at her sensei with a questioning look.

"I had him take the weights off for the day, he won't need them with all the battles ahead," Gai told her.

"You could have warned me," She said dryly.

"For what reason?" Gai asked her perplexed. She just muttered something about wishing she could switch teams for a time. She felt that she could use a vacation from her sensei and over active teammate.

Tenten felt a presence coming up at that point. She looked to see Neji finishing getting up the stairs from his match with Shino right behind him. She smiled seeing him walk up towards her. "Hey, nice match and it looks like all that training paid off."

Neji gave her a small smile, "Thanks to you. I wouldn't have been able to pull off a Kaiten without your help as you know."

Tenten blushed from the compliment.

Naruto of course saw how close the two seemed to be. They were standing very close to each other and they were perfectly relaxed. He had seen this enough times to know something was going on between them now. He had a feeling that Neji might have liked the bun haired girl, hence all the messing with him. It was funny seeing Neji get all jealous. But now it seemed that Tenten might feel something as well. Well this was just too good an opportunity to mess with.

"Hey, you two were alone for a whole month together right?" Naruto asked them.

"What is your point Hatake?" Neji asked feeling a bit annoyed at the ruined moment. He always used Naruto's last name when he was annoyed with him.

"You two didn't get into anything…perverted with each other when no one was looking where you?" He smirked at them as this caught the attentions of many around them. Especially when the two teens blushed, not because they had actually done anything, just that Naruto had said something might have happened.

"Oh are you two dating or something?" Ino shot up, finally over her slight depression/anger at Shikamaru's loss. "I think that's so cute, damn it why is everyone starting to hook up but me?!"

"Oh, looks like I missed out on some fun with just girls," Anko smirked at the two young genins. "Maybe next times we should bring boys out for some joint training. I know Hinata wouldn't mind a month alone with Naruto here."

"I wouldn't mind that either," Naruto muttered more to himself and ignored Neji's hostile look at him for it.

"No!" Gai shouted out almost in horror. "Don't tell me that they have fallen to the perverted nature of the unyouthful while out of my sight."

Sasuke grunted as he looked at the pair. "If she did, she could do better than a branch member."

"What was that Uchiha?" Neji narrowed his eyes and the implications to that. Sasuke only smirked back smugly. He had a feeling that Tenten might be spoken for now, oh well it was only a passing interests anyway. But that didn't mean he didn't want to miss out on messing with the Hyuga boy. It was one of the things he felt that Naruto had right, it was fun messing with Neji.

"Hold it," Tenten said seeing a fight nearly breaking out. She gently grabbed Neji by the hand to lead him away from a possible incident that could get him disqualified for fighting outside a match. "Come on let's just sit and watch Lee."

They didn't notice that they had kept their hands together until the match had started to the surprise of both of them.

Dosu was not very happy, already his teammates had lost and it was only luck that he managed to get this far. Given the strength of the teams he had seen so far, already his two teammates were taken by Orochimaru for some reason. Apparently they still held some kind of usefulness or so he said. He didn't know what his master had in plan but with their failures, they had to do something to make up for it. Apparently another Sound person had been chosen as well, one of the spies that had slipped into the village.

Dosu put all those thoughts out of his mind as the green glad genin raced up to meet him.

"I am glad to fight you, please let us have a most youthful and exciting match!" Lee said giving Dosu a thumbs up.

Dosu only looked at the boy like he might be mentally handicapped. Then again he did remember how fast the kid was in the match against that Suna guy. Well no matter, all he had to do was get close enough to use his sound weapon and then the fight would all be over. The battle was started and Dosu channelled chakra into the metallic sound weapon. He would need it ready to go at a moment notice.

Lee wanted to get this fight started, he was all fired up and couldn't wait for the next fight. He charged his opponent and Dosu was only just able to get his weapon up in time. The sound waves came out and Lee's balance was taken away as he stumbled to take a knee. The world spun and he felt his stomach was about to empty itself.

Dosu knew that this fight wouldn't take long, there was no way to counter the effect of his weapon when he landed a blow with it. It seemed the boy didn't have anything in his ears to counter the sound. Even if he had a physical blow would have done the same. He got closer as he prepared to crush the boy's skull with his gauntlet when something surprising happened. Lee's body shifted as he quickly gave a kick to Dosu's chin making him stagger back. Not to mention it had been painful and also gave him a slight ringing in his ears. He looked up to see Lee getting back onto his feet, although his legs were shaking a bit.

He didn't understand it, he knew that the effect of his sound had worked there was no way the boy was faking, so how was he still standing let alone still fighting?

"What the hell, I thought that guy made weird sound things that you can't stand after or something," Ino said as Lee started to fight back.

Sakura looked to Gai as an idea came to mind, "Gai-sensei, does Lee have anything blocking his hearing?"

"Oh no nothing like that," Gai smiled proudly. "You see Lee had to learn how to fight against his senses. This genin can make you feel as though the world is spinning from the sonic attacks to your inner ear. Now if sound travels through the body you can't defend against that with just plugging your ears. So for a whole month I made Lee fight while dizzy."

"Uh…I know I'm going to regret asking this," Naruto started knowing the insane ways Gai liked to train. "But how did you train him to fight while dizzy?"

"Why it's simple, I spun him around and when he was dizzy enough I relentlessly attacked him. When he got better, I spun him some more and kept at it for a whole month." Gai said proud of his way of getting around the Sound genin's attack. "Now Lee's body fights almost automatically when in that state."

"Gai, you're really too much as times," Kakashi sighed as he palmed his face.

Although Gai's training was to most insane, it was also highly effective. Dosu had never fought anyone that could fight like this. He tried to use the boy's body as a way to carry the sound, he threw a punch with his gauntlet weapon and it had hit. Lee had blocked the blow and so Dosu had sent the vibrations through the boy's hand. He knew it traveled up the arm and attacked the inner ear.

But to Lee, after all the training he did, he could now fight through the disorientation. He hit the bandaged face of the other genin with his other hand sending the boy flying. Dosu had never been hit as hard as this boy. His blows were like iron, plus his speed was totally insane. A normal person shouldn't be able to move that fast. Lee's moves were so hard to see at times. He had been counting on his sonic abilities to get him through this match, he never once dreamed the boy could actually fight while disoriented.

Lee came at him with such speed that Dosu barely had time to react, he put up his arms to defend himself. Lee shot out a fast and devastating kick, without the weights to hold him back the blow was amazing. He landed a perfect hit to the device that Dosu used and shattered it. Plus the bone in his arm along with it as the boy howled in pain. He gently gripped his arm and looked up in time to see a foot slamming into his face.

Dosu was sent flying from the blow and when he landed he didn't get back up.

"Well I guess there's only one left," Naruto said looking to Sasuke who had that ever so confident look on his face. "You up for this?"

"Of course," Sasuke said to him. "Just watch me, I didn't train my ass off for you to show me up."

Naruto only grinned back, he couldn't wait to see what Sasuke did. Although looking across to see Gaara entering the field did make him nervous. The kid was seriously messed up and he just radiated killing intent it seemed. He just hoped that whatever happened things didn't get too intense.

**Next up Chapter 60: All Hell Breaks Loose**

**Okay final match and then the attack, sorry this took so long just things keep piling up in real life. **


	60. All Hell Breaks Loose

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 60: All Hell Breaks Loose**

It was the moment many had been waiting for, the final battle of the first rounds. So far it had been a very eventful chunin exam. Sasuke couldn't wait for his chance to show what he was capable of. Although from what he had seen of Gaara in the previous fights a month ago, the boy wouldn't hesitate to kill him. Well that was fine with him, he made peace with death a long time ago. There were worse fates, and he had gone through a couple of those when he had been a child. A lot of weakness had been beaten out of him that night. Some people would have let that crush them, he had been forged into something harder. He had to be harder to survive this world. But lately the steel in him had been tempered again by the bonds he had formed with his team.

At first he thought it a weakness, after all his older brother had told him to hate with all his heart. But maybe there was another way. After listening to Kakashi's story about another Uchiha, and the things he and his teammates had been through. He was starting to see things differently. Why did he have to go through life on the path his brother set for him? He didn't like the idea of playing to the tune his brother set for him. He was offered power by a madman, the mark still on his neck. But at what cost, he was gaining strength faster now since joining this team then all the years before. Naruto had challenged him the most, to push himself to greater heights.

Yes they were teammates, and rivals but they were something more as well. He smirked as he walked down into the arena seeing Gaara doing the same. He wouldn't let Naruto show him up with the fight he had, Sasuke had an even bigger challenge now as well. Any mistake here could kill him, so Sasuke would use everything he had to deal with this fight.

Up in the stands everyone looked on.

"You think he'll be okay?" Sakura asked a bit worried. He was confident in Sasuke's skills and abilities, but Gaara just wasn't normal. Plus the boy gave her the creeps, the way the boy talked in that monotone gravely voice and his nearly dead eyes. She just hoped that whatever training he went through with Kakashi worked.

"Don't worry my dad would have whipped him into shape," Naruto said proudly. He knew first hand that when his dad got serious about training it could get intense. Sakura nodded at his words taking some measure of comfort in them as they watched on.

You could sense the tense atmosphere this was a fight many wanted to see. Sasuke, the famous Last Uchiha, versus Gaara of the Desert, both boys many came to see. Although both young Sasuke held the pride of a nearly extinct clan, while many may not know of Gaara personally, his mission record was amazing for his age.

Sasuke looked across at the red headed boy. The other boy's arms were folded like always. Gaara always seemed like he was confident and bored at the same time. Although Sasuke did catch a small glint in the boy's green eyes, almost like Gaara was considering noticing his presence. Sasuke waited for the Proctor to start the match. As soon as they were given the go ahead, Sasuke ran forward. He had to fight quickly against this boy and he was soon to find out just how right he was. Gaara moved up a hand as he started out using his sand bullets. Small projectiles came out of the surrounding sand at his feet they flew out at dangerous speeds just like bullets.

Sasuke had activated his sharingan and saw the attacks coming. He pulled the sword out that he kept behind his lower back. With quick cuts he slashed through the sand as he kept moving forward. He knew that was just the opening move, and there could be anything coming next. The boy could control the sand to do anything, the only limit could only be the other boy's imagination in using it. He was right as large spikes came at him when he got too close. He managed to dodge them by jumping through the air, twisting his body to avoid others that came for him. He used his sword to cut through the sand spikes as he thought he was very close when he landed.

Sasuke tried a slash with the sword but a wall of sand came nearly out of nowhere blocking it. He jumped back in time to avoid Gaara's counter attack. All of this was happening very quickly, but the battle was nowhere close to being over.

Sasuke put his sword away as he saw an opportunity to try for a grand fireball. He quickly used the ninjutsu as a very large ball of fire went at Gaara. He still stood there as his sand went to defend. But even with all that sand, it nearly broke through. The super heat of the fire started to cause some of the sand to turn to glass. That was a substance that Gaara couldn't manipulate, even if it had once been his own sand.

But most of the fire was used up against the sand, the little that made it through didn't make if past Gaara's sand armour. But Gaara wasn't worried, in fact he was starting to feel a bit of adrenaline kicking in. He was actually getting excited, this boy was turning out to not be a disappointment. His blood would feed his mother greatly. He knew what the others told him, what his father told him. Keep the match going and wait for the invasion signal. Then he was to unleash the true power within him. But he didn't care for plans or invasions. He was enjoying himself too much, this Uchiha would do well to prove his existence to the world.

In fact he wasn't going to wait any longer, he had been waiting for an entire month. He hadn't done anything and the demon within had been whispering all this time for blood. He was in a stadium full of people so there would be much blood today. He grinned as he formed a full sphere of sand around him.

Up in the stands with the Suna team they couldn't believe what Gaara was doing. He only did that to buy time to call forth his Tailed Beast. It was also too soon for this to happen, the signal hadn't been given yet but they couldn't stop it now.

Sasuke tried to get close to the sphere but large spikes would only shoot out to hit him. He tried another fire jutsu again but for some reason this sand was more difficult to turn to glass than before. This was obviously a purely defensive jutsu that the Suna boy was using. Obviously he needed a focused attack to get through, something like a fire jutsu was just too wide spread. He only grinned as it was time to show the new trick he learned. Sasuke jumped up to one of the walls of the arena as he prepared the new jutsu.

His team was watching as Naruto saw the hand seals and sharply looked at his father. "Dad, did you really teach him _that _jutsu!"

"Well it turns out that Sasuke can use lightning elements, plus I figured that it would be the one jutsu that I could teach him in one month that would get through that sand." Kakashi told him. "Plus only someone with a sharingan can use that jutsu to its fullest potential. Anyone else would have a huge blind spot that would be fatal."

"What are you two talking about?" Sakura asked them a little annoyed that she wasn't informed what was going on.

Naruto only looked at her with a smile. "Don't worry, you're about to see my dad's best jutsu in action."

A sound like many birds at once suddenly filled the air, Sasuke's hand was glowing as what looked like he was holding lightning in his hands. He quickly ran down the wall, leaving a trail of destruction in the wake of the jutsu. He moved faster than he had ever moved before, all that speed training that Kakashi put him through. Speed was one of the essential parts of this jutsu, without speed you couldn't use it effectively. He ran too fast for Gaara's defences, plus with the sharingan he could see attacks that would come at him.

He dodge just enough to avoid being hit but nothing could stop him. He felt the chidori pierce through the sand. It was an odd sensation, he had only used this one rocks up until now. His hand and arm felt slightly tingly from the lightning, but moving through the sand. It was like piercing water with your hand. Then he felt it connect with something, something not as hard. He ended the jutsu before he lost too much chakra and he could have sworn that he felt something wet against his hand.

He heard a scream from behind the sand a moment later, and it wasn't ending. He quickly jumped back as his opponent wasn't dead, which meant he was too exposed in that position for a counter attack. The boy was still screaming when the sand fell away and he could see that there was a wound on his arm. Apparently he was screaming something about blood, but he didn't care. He prepared himself for the next attack, and given that his opponent seemed more unhinged than normal so there was no telling what was going to happen next.

But if he didn't do anything soon, Sasuke planned to attack anyway.

In the stands looking over the fight, stood a certain white haired genin of the leaf. At least that's what many would have thought seeing Kabuto, if he was in his normal clothing. At the moment he was disguised as an ANBU black op. The white mask and cloak were easy enough to take off an ANBU he had taken out earlier.

Kabuto now saw that the time was right. For some reason Gaara had tried to call out his demon earlier than planned. Well the boy looked close to blowing any restraints he kept on his power, so he might as well get the real party started. Their people should be in place in and outside the village by now anyway. Those that infiltrated the stadium were here already that he could see. It was time for the genjutsu, and to signal the attack and the end of the Leaf Village.

Soon after that, small white feathers seemed to fall over the stadium from out of nowhere. Everyone looked up wondering where such things had come from. Then people started to feel tired, like weights were attached to every part of their bodies. Everything was getting heavy and they couldn't keep their eyes opened.

"Oh man I feel like taking a nap," Naruto yawed out. Did his fight take this much out of him already? Maybe if he just closed his eyes for a bit that seemed okay to him.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura muttered as she felt the effects taking hold. She shook her head trying to get her mind focused. She slammed her hands together into a seal. "Kai!" She dispelled the genjutsu that had been forming on her. Her mind clearing up she looked around to see all the jonin still up but so far everyone else had fallen asleep. "What's going on?"

"Sakura get everyone who is genin and above up, Gai and I will cover you." Kakashi said in a calm and serious tone.

Sakura was going to ask, cover her from what, when she saw that several of the people in the stands close by were disguised ninja. They jumped out of the civilian clothing and they wore grey clothing. She noticed that they all wore the symbol of a sound note, making them Sound ninja.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Anko said to her while looking at the enemy with a grin on her face. "Things are about to get bloody so get your friends up."

Sakura nodded as she quickly went to work as battles started all over the place.

Among the two Kages, things weren't much different as the Kazekage and his bodyguards went to attack the Hokage and his defenders. Sarutobi saw the Kazekage make his move, in his younger days he would have been able to move fast enough to get out of the way. So now the Kazekage was holding a kunai to his throat.

"So I see you finally sprung your trap," Sarutobi sighed as looked out at the battles starting. "I figured that it would be on this day that you would attack."

The Kazekage stiffened a bit but he recovered. "Oh so you knew about this after all. I was worried but I thought we covered all possible leaks. I guess we missed one."

"Yes you did," The Hokage stated calmly as though nothing was going on at the moment. "So where is my old student?"

"Why, right here sensei." Orochimaru's voice said from behind the white mask of the Kazekage. He grinned as he saw the shocked expression on his old teacher's face. "I have to admit that the fool had entertained the plan for a bit, but he didn't have the backbone to go far enough. So I had to take matters into my own hand."

"When Suna realizes things they will turn against you."

"Oh I know, I left the body of their Kazekage in a place that won't be found in time. Plus when everything is over Konoha will have fallen and Suna will be too hurt to come after me for some time. Plus I'm sure that any survivors of Konoha will want blood for the destruction of the village."

"And they will hate, I promise you on that one," Orochimaru said gleefully. "I have orders to kill all the women and children and the civilians. To burn this village to the ground when your forces are in retreat, to leave nothing that can be rebuilt. But since you knew about this attack I suppose you already have plans in motion."

The Hokage smiled, "Yes and it's too late for you to do anything about it. Already my ANBU have been silently taking out Suna and Sound teams that you thought you had infiltrated."

"Yes but what of outside the village?" Orochimaru grinned. "I know the defences of this village well, how else could I have gotten in so easily? I've spent time looking and I was disappointed to find that you haven't changed the security of the village totally when I left. But anyway, we should be seeing one of my surprises right now."

Off in the distance there was a rumbling sound, from their viewpoint they could both see a large snake attacking one of the grand walls that defended the village. The ninja that were there tired to fight it off, but a snake that size made its scales as thick as armour.

"You're not the only one with surprises you know," The Hokage said to him. "You're not my only student that has been staying here."

Orochimaru's eyes widened as giant toads started to appear.

"I should have guessed that old pervert was here, well this certainly makes things interesting. Did you get all of the infiltrators, will he be able to handle my summons." Orochimaru said. "I admit, I'm not as confident in my total victory. But I will settle for bringing this village to its knees. In such a weakened state, and with no allies there are many that will take advantage of it."

"I think I've had enough of your talking," Sarutobi said as with quick reflexes even for a man of his age he managed to get out of the hold. He had been surprised before, but he had been planning on getting out of Orochimaru's hands as soon as he could. The talking was just a way to force his focus slightly off him, just enough to get out.

He threw his robes aside as the black and grey battle armour that had been under it was now shown. Orochimaru only chuckled as he threw away the white robes to reveal his true appearance.

"It seems that you also dressed for the occasion," Orochimaru told him. "But I don't want anyone to interfere in this. This is an old score between you and I, so I want to ensure that."

He raised a hand and out of nowhere four other ninja, in Sound clothing appeared on the rooftop. They quickly went to four sides as they started with hand seals. The ANBU had managed to take care of the first group of Sound defenders, they were now trying to reach their Hokage. But before they could get too close a barrier was created. The ANBU were about to go for the four ninja that created the barrier but they enclosed themselves in a secondary one.

The lead ANBU looked around and he couldn't see any way inside. It seemed to be totally enclosed. Leaning down he placed a hand onto the roof. He stayed like that for a minute before he pulled his hand away.

"Sempai?" One of the other ANBU asked him.

"It's no good, it covers the entire bottom as well, we can't get in." He said disgruntled.

Elsewhere with Hiashi and his family, he had managed to keep awake from the genjustu. Hanabi was still asleep but he was unable to wake her as he was busy with the enemy. He was surprised to see that Hinata managed to keep awake as well. On the other hand, given who her sensei was maybe he shouldn't be surprised. She was helping him to protect Hanabi so he didn't have to worry about anyone slipping past him. His eldest was doing very well to help out, although her style wasn't as refined and advanced as Neji, she was doing well.

Then a few ninja got between him and his daughters, for a moment he panicked on the inside. He tried to move to their side but was prevented. He noticed more were starting to gang up on Hinata as she was covering her younger sister. Although her skill had improved she wasn't good enough to handle that many opponents. He was going to try a desperate move to get to them, it would leave him with all types of openings that he knew their enemies would exploit. But before he tried to do anything he noticed that Hinata was making hand seals.

He hadn't known her to use ninjutsu before, most Hyuga only knew basic ones as they focused more on the gentle first. When she was finished a mist started to form around her and the others. It looked like the same technique that the Mist ninja has used earlier. He was so caught by the action that he nearly missed a Sound ninja using a kunai to try and slash at his throat. Hiashi managed to dodge it and counter, striking the man several dozens of times in a second. The man crumpled to the floor, his chakra totally shut off.

It was then that he could hear the confusion of the Sound ninja inside of the mist. They called out to one another but they soon were cut off by their own cries of pain. Hinata was fighting them all now, while they were blind she could see them. Even if the mist was blinding her, thanks to her bloodline she could see through any type of mist. He battled on as he kept an eye on his eldest daughter. He would have to ask when she learned this.

For Hinata she was trying to focus on protecting her sister, and not the fear that was gripping her belly. She had never been in such a violent environment. Sure she had seen battle but this was something on another level entirely. There was a mass of confusion as there were yells, cries, and sounds of battle all around her. So she focused on just protecting Hanabi and pushed the fear down. She had used the mist jutsu only in training before. When she had trained with Sakura with their water affinity, she had used the scrolls that Sakura had gotten from Kakashi.

What she hadn't known was that this was one of the moves he had copied from his battle with Zabuza.

Hinata used the blindness of her opponents to her advantage. While they stumbled around she easily slipped in among them and attacked. They couldn't dodge her attacks at this range with no sight, if they could see she would have been overwhelmed. She was glad that she took the time to use this move and that there was enough moisture in the air to cover a small area. She didn't have the reserves or enough water to cover an area like say the stadium like a jonin could. But this was enough for her. So she focused on the enemy, pushing everything else away. Her body reacted almost as if on instinct, when one opponent fell she went to another, then another and another.

It wasn't until she noticed that all her opponents were now down on the ground that she let herself calm and focus outward. Slowly the mist unfolded and she looked to see that Hanabi was safe. She looked to see that her father had also finished with his own enemies and he was looking at her. She wasn't sure, but was he looking at her with…pride?

Her uncle broke the moment as he appeared among them, "I'm sorry for being late, it took time to make my way here."

Hiashi nodded knowing full well how hard it had to be. He looked around the stadium and saw that Neji was up by this point. He saw that pink haired friend of Naruto's waking up the genins. "It looks like Neji is up with his team, he should be in good hands. Please take Hanabi to be safe with the others and ensure that the children of the village are protected."

Hiashi saw his younger twin hesitate if only for a second. Hiashi knew full well what his brother was thinking. "Hinata go see to Neji, I'm sure your sensei has need for you to be with your team." Hinata was surprised but she bowed slightly with her head before leaving. "Don't worry brother, by what I saw, your son had grown very strong."

His twin paused if only to give a small smile before picking up Hanabi. "Yes he has. But as a father I can't help but still worry."

Hiashi could only nod in agreement.

Back with the others, Naruto was just finally waking up. He didn't know what was going on at first, the last thing he remembered was something about feathers. Now he was looking up at a ceiling with Sakura looking down at him.

"Naruto, wake up!" Sakura shook him knowing how groggy he got when he first wakes up.

"Huh? Wh-what's going on?" Naruto shook his head and slowly got up. He looked around to see nothing but chaos. There were people fighting all over the place and he saw all his friends looking slightly overwhelmed by everything as well. "What the hell!?"

"We're being attacked by the Sound and Sand ninja," Sakura told him. "They seemed to have put their people in the village to attack us."

"Huh? Sand, but aren't our villages friends?" Kiba asked knowing at least that much. Then again he couldn't really deny what he was seeing at the moment. He could see at least a few people with the Suna symbols on them. He looked down to see that the full Suna team was now in the arena and Sasuke was all alone. "Oh crap, are they going to gang up on him?"

Everyone that heard it looked to see where Kiba was pointing.

"Oh hell no," Naruto said as he looked to Sakura. She nodded her head as the two of them went off to join their teammate. They avoided any ninja on the way there only focusing on joining their friend.

Kakashi saw this but he knew that it might take all of Team 7 to deal with just Gaara. He was a bit busy himself just dealing with the forces with the other jonins at the moment. He saw Gai was with his students as they were moving around clockwise. It looked like he was going to take the clear out the stadium. Kurenai and Asuma were fighting near him and Anko was somewhere behind them helping to ensure no one snuck up on their backs.

He looked to Asuma and Kurenai. "I think my team could use some help with the blonde and the puppet user."

Kurenai nodded her head looking to Kiba. "Kiba, you and Akamaru. Go."

The two didn't need to be told twice as they rushed off to help them. Asuma looked to Ino and Choji, the two knew what they were being asked as they went off to join Kiba.

"Well I think we need to get things moving," Anko said as she looked to everyone there. The fighting had lessoned enough that she could relax a bit. "Everyone else get scrolls telling them what to do?" She saw they nodded. "Well let's get going. I got the kids to help protect, apparently so I need to make my way there."

"I'll cover you with Shino and Hinata when she gets here." Kurenai said seeing her young female student running towards them. She would reach them in a few more seconds, so she would grab her on the way out and explain along the way.

"I have to help with the streets, so Shikamaru you're coming with me." Asuma said to the Nara boy, who did not look very happy about it.

Anko stopped before leaving facing away from Kakashi and Gai as they had just started another round of attacks against a new wave of enemy. "Kakashi, you better not get hurt or I will be pissed."

Kakashi only chuckled before backhanding an attacking ninja. "I know, that's why I won't."

Anko only smirked before she left with the others.

In the arena things were a bit more different, Gaara was screaming incoherently with one bloody hand on his face. Temari was trying to calm him down but it wasn't working. Gaara's injury plus his bloodlust was too much at the moment. Kankuro looked nervously behind him as his newly rebuilt puppet was already out. It had taken him the entire month but he got it working just in time. Sasuke already had his sword out but he wasn't going to make a move, not just yet. There were three of them and only one of him so whoever he attacked, two could attack him in return.

Although given how the blonde woman was trying to get Gaara under control he could in theory attack the makeup man. But that was only in theory. He suddenly heard some new foot falls behind him. He didn't turn his head as if he took his eyes off he knew that guy with the puppet would attack as soon as he did. But then he smirked as he knew those sounds, well at least two of them.

He wasn't surprised to see Naruto come up beside him and Sakura on the other side. Both of them had their weapons drawn and were ready for a fight.

"What took you so long?" Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Ah shut up, we could just leave you alone with them you know." Naruto said slightly annoyed.

"Fine by me, not like I actually needed any help." Sasuke told Naruto. "It is only three of them."

Sakura sighed, "Anko-sensei was right, all men are just boys." She muttered to herself. Kiba with Ino and Choji came by right behind them at that moment. With that Kankuro looked a bit more nervous, the odds were now two to one, well numerically at least. But he was still worried about Gaara behind them, if he let loose his full power numbers wouldn't matter. He would attack friend or foe if the worse came. He just hoped that Temari could convince Gaara to go because right now things were not looking good.

**Next up Chapter 61: Konoha Battlefield  
**

**Sorry to the wait, was a little sick lately but I'm better now.**


	61. Battlefield Konoha

**AN: I realised that what I was writing didn't really fit the title so I changed it in this and in the last chapter.**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 61: Battlefield Konoha**

Temari was not having a good day. First was her so called 'win' earlier, she had lost, everyone had known it but that boy had just given her the win. Her pride was hurt from that, she would be feeling the sting of that for awhile. But that paled in comparison to what was happening now. Gaara had started to release his inner demon sooner than planed, the invasion had to be started earlier and now she had even more trouble on her hands. She had gone down to get him out of the area, if he fully released here it would be very troubling. Too many of their own people were in the area.

Gaara was supposed to release in the population center of the village, not here. Also a part of her was worried. It was that small part of her that would always be his sister, some bonds like that you couldn't get rid of completely. She had never seen him bleed before, he had never been hurt like that before. She had tried to get him to go with her, she pleaded with him to listen to her. But he didn't, he shoved her away and the look she saw in his eyes told her that if she tried to move him, he would kill her.

She cast a look at her other brother at the problem they now faced. Not only was the Uchiha's teammates were here but a few others as well. Temari pulled her fan as her brother unleashed his newly repaired puppet. Kankuro didn't like the looks of things, with the boy and his dog, the blonde girl, and the fat boy with the others. Plus Gaara was a wild card at the moment too.

"Alright I have no idea what's really going on," Naruto said to the Suna team. "But whatever you're planning you can forget it."

Having hearing that voice caused Gaara to focus a bit. The voice in his head was screaming at him now, it was so loud and commanding. It was calling for blood, for death, to be let out among the world. A voice that never ended, never gave him peace. To Gaara, the days and night blured together, only in death, only in the blood he spilled did he find focus. Only then when he finally felt like he existed in the world. Now a new voice called to him, one from the outside, one that he marked for death. He looked at the blonde masked boy and grinned a savage grin.

"Naruto Hatake," Gaara rasped out as half his face was hidden behind a hand. "I wanted to give your blood to mother for so long now. We've had to wait for so long as well, tell me do you hear it as well? Do you hear the voice calling for blood like I do?"

Naruto was very uncomfortable about this, he had a feeling that Gaara was referring to the Fox. Although he did have a talk with it, while training with Jiraiya, it sounded like Gaara talked to his the entire time. He couldn't image what that was like, he had only met the Fox for a short bit and already he hated it. It was an evil force of nature, uncaring for humanity, only caring for chaos and destruction.

"No I don't, it's sealed up nice and tight with a gag." Naruto said noticing the questioning looks he got form his teammates who were close enough to hear his answer. He really was going to have to explain everything to them after this. He could tell they were already wondering about a few things lately, he had evaded it for now but he couldn't keep it up forever.

"Pity," Gaara said as he pulled his hand away from his face. They were shocked to see the skin under the palm had changed. No, in fact it was still changing as they watched it. The skin turned a light shade of brown, as it pulsed and grew out. The eye had changed from green to yellow and looked inhuman. Now veins on the left side of his face, neck and arm were growing as the skin there also started to change.

"Oh no," Temari said seeing what was going on. There was no way to stop things now. "Kankuro, we need to move!"

He didn't need to be told twice, staying anywhere near Gaara in that state he was releasing was suicide. He and Temari left for the stands to gain the high ground. Ino and Choji went after Temari as Kiba and Akamaru went after Kankuro. Leaving Team 7 alone with a transforming Gaara.

**-In the Konoha Streets-**

Even before the invasion, ANBU had been clearing the streets of enemies while helping chunins evacuate the civilians. But when the battle signal had started, ANBU could no longer act in secret, they had to attack out in the open. Luckily the enemy were confused by their lack of numbers and lack of people. They never suspected that the Leaf Village had been preparing all this time. Even now a team would be evacuating people at the stadium to an underground bunker quickly created under the stadium.

Although from the scattered reports, it was slow going. Apparently the non-ninja were put to sleep. So they had to carry them all down while fighting off enemy forces. Thankfully it seemed that Gai and Kakashi were helping them out.

Gai was a good person to have, but for ANBU Yugao Uzuki she was more thankful for Kakashi being there. She had only worked with him a few times before he quit ANBU but everyone knew him and respected his skills. The man was a legend like Itachi had been in the special services, that is before Itachi's downfall, now no one spoke that name.

She was currently leading her three members through a clean up sweep of an area. So far things had gone mostly in their favour. She could hear battle all around her, she knew that many would be injured and some would die. She knew all too well how swiftly death could come. All this month she had tried to focus on her work, because when she returned home she just broke down and cried her heart out. She had never cried so hard in her life since Hayate's death. Sure the man looked constantly sickly and coughed all the time, but he made her feel loved in ways no one else had.

A hole had been torn into her life, and she was going to fill that with as much blood as possible to those that had taken his life.

"We should have come into more resistance than this in this area, don't you think?" An ANBU with a Hawk masked asked her. The other two wore a Rat and Turtle mask.

Yugao thought about it, it was odd that they hadn't run into anyone yet. This was still a heavy fighting area so where were the enemy? They could be hiding but then where, inside the homes? She stopped as her team did, she did a slow scan of the area, looking for anything out of place. The place seemed quiet, in fact she noticed that the sounds of battle were more distance now then they had been. That meant there was a sound distortion but that only happened with something like a…

"Genjutsu!" She yelled out to released herself out of it. One of her teammates wasn't fast enough as he screamed as blood came gushing out of wounds that suddenly appeared. Rat cried out as he dodged but a slash on his arm was suddenly there. As the genjutsu dispelled from her forcing her chakra to release her senses she saw the enemy slowly start to appear. Sound ninja, all of them and they had them encircled. With one member out and another wounded she was outnumbered. Still she would give them one hell of a fight as she pulled her sword from it's holder behind her back.

Then she saw a shadow cross her vision, someone was jumping down from behind her. She quickly turned to parry with her sword, but nothing came. A figure in a cloak with two swords attacked two of the Sound ninja behind her. She didn't have enough time to think as the battle started. It was over in a few minutes but to her the battle seemed a lot longer than that. She managed to cut down three of her opponents before she noticed that all the enemy had either been killed or fled. She saw the rest of her team was unhurt, and the other member was tending to their wounded comrade.

She turned to face the cloaked man, "Who are you?"

"Jeez forgot me already huh?" A man said with a cough as he pulled down the hood.

For Yugao time just stopped, as the hood was pulled down she saw the face of her lover Hayate. She stood there unable to even think as she saw the impossible. She saw the body, she had buried him, and she had cried and mourned for him. And there he was, alive again. Hayate walked over to her his face serious.

Finally she managed to say something, her shaky voice managed to get out only one word. "H-How?" Her voice seemed so small in that moment, her eyes stinging with tears and she was thankful for the mask she was wearing.

She felt him hold her, and it was in that moment she knew it was him. It was really him, she broke as she hugged him tightly afraid to let him go. Afraid that if she did, he would be gone again.

"I'm sorry," He whispered into her ear. He felt her shake knowing she was trying not to cry.

Suddenly she pushed him back and slapped him, hard. "You bastard! You made me think you were dead!"

"Okay I deserved that one," He muttered feeling the sting on his face coughing again. "Look, I was brought in nearly dead, hell they told me I was lucky to be alive. They used a cadaver and made it look like me so that I would be considered dead. I didn't even wake up until a few days after they did it and I had to stay in one of Ibiki's cells for a whole month. I wanted to give you a message telling you I was alive but they were afraid of a security risk."

Yugao was furious, happy, and had so many emotions running through her it felt like a maelstrom inside of her. But she would have to deal with this later, they had a mission to take care of first plus she needed some time to come to terms with this. And the enemy would be a great way to work out her anger about all of this. "We're not done talking."

"Yeah *cough*, I had a feeling about that." He said although he said it with a smile. After a month away from her, even an angry Yugao would be nice to see again.

**-Under the Stadium-**

Over the month a steel bunker had been built in secret, first earth users had hollowed out while other ninja secretly constructed the area. It was a lot of hard work and it wasn't a palace but it would work. The only door was a thick steel one that matched the wall it was connected too. Gas laps were overhead to make light and there were many beds already set up.

Chunin guards were posted on either side of the door in case the enemy made its way down here.

Neji, Tenten and Lee were placing more bodies into prepared beds. So far Gai had told them to help with the removal of all the civilians still asleep in the stands. Thankfully there wasn't too much. Most of the stadium had been either ANBU, or other Konoha ninja prepared or enemies in disguise. Plus with the help of other ninja assigned to the duty it was going well. Those that had been in the medical room from injures from the matches were already here. Although they would prefer fighting, this was important too. They couldn't have any of the VIPs from the Fire country or other nations getting hurt or killed.

"Neji," a voice called out and said boy turned to see his father running carrying Hanabi.

"Father, is she okay?" Neji asked looking at his youngest cousin.

His father smiled as he gently laid her down on a bed, "Yes, just asleep. Can you take care of her, I'm needed to ensure that the last of the civilians is brought down."

Neji wanted to go with him, but it was his duty to look out for the Main branch, plus this was his cousin as well. He nodded his head not voicing his disappointment in not going out with him. He felt his father's hand on his shoulder as he looked up at the man.

"You made me very proud out there today son," He said simply with a smile and Neji could see the pride in his father's eyes. In that moment, despite everything that was going on, he felt his spirit fly as free as s bird on the wind.

Elsewhere in the upper levels four chunins were carrying the last two from the medical wing on a pair of combat stretchers. Mainly they were just a piece of cloth with two poles in them. The two were the Mist genins that had been in the first round eliminations.

"Man you think they would wake up with all this going on," One of the chunin said.

"Maybe the medics gave them something," The other said as they made their way as fast as they could with the wounded ninja. "Although I'm wondering if it also has to do with how they got their butts kicked. Our genins sure did a number on them."

"Yeah no kidding," His partner grinned. "Hey how's that girl back there you two?"

"Better," A female voice said as the two chunin looked to see the girl was back on her feet and the two chunins dead. Their throats looked to have been cut and there was fresh blood on those bandages she had on her arms.

"What the hell are you doing!?" One of the chunins said then heard a gurgling sound as the stretcher fell on the other end. He quickly turned to see his friend dying there holding his throat as blood came down. The last image he saw was the genin up and stabbing him in the head with a kunai. As the ninja lay dead at their feet the two Mist ninja looked at each other.

"Well this isn't what the plan said to do, I still can't believe we were beaten," Ami scowled clearing pissed at the whole affair.

Gendo only grunted, he felt the same way. But still their mission wasn't a complete loss. Although they would have to go back and get his sword from the medical room before leaving, they were done here. They came to accomplish what they needed to do. Although they had lost a teammate, that had been unforeseen and regrettable but he should have been stronger. In fact they both needed to be stronger, they thought they were better and they paid for their hubris.

"We need to leave and meet up with sensei and fill him in on what happened." Gendo said to Ami as they started to walk down the hallways. Both were feeling their injuries but they could still battle if needed. "With all of this going on it should be simple to slip out. They're worried about people coming in after all and as Mist ninja, whoever is battling out there shouldn't attack us."

"What will the Leaf think once we turn up missing or some see us leaving?" Ami asked.

Gendo only smiled coldly. "Then I guess we just have to kill them all so they can't talk. They'll think we were killed or something in the battle. Come on, we've wasted enough time in this village. We need to report back to the Mizukage with what we learned."

**-Arena-**

Temari couldn't believe she had to fight two people who didn't even make it into the finals. She had seen the fight they had and they wouldn't be much of an issue. Although by the looks of things she wouldn't be getting any help anyway. The few Sound ninja that were left were having a hard time with Konoha forces. Not only that but Konoha's people were taking the sleeping forms and taking them away. They must have had a safe place to place them all, something she would make note of for later.

Looking at the long haired blonde in purple and her fat teammate she didn't exactly feel threatened. "So this is the best that they can send against me? A pretty girl and a overweight genin? I think I'm insulted."

"What did you say!?" Ino yelled out a vein being shown on her head. Sure she had been taken out but she had trained herself over this month. Seeing how far she was behind the others, she felt she had to increase her abilities. Even Choji had been working with his father learning more family jutsus.

Ino grinned at the older girl, "Besides it was our teammate, the most lazy ninja in the world that managed to beat you. He played you the entire time and you only won because he felt sorry for you." Ino smirked seeing how much that angered the other girl.

"But Ino, weren't you yelling at him for-" Choji was cut off as Ino gave him a death glare. He knew enough not to say anything more.

"I was going to be easy on you two but for saying that, you can forget it." Temari said as she opened her fan. She used it to make a hug gust of wind knocking the two Konoha genin onto their backs. Temari smirked this time as she saw what happened. "Well. So you wear purple panties as well I see."

Ino sat up and looked to see that her skirt had been blown up, exposing her underwear. She got really red as she realized what happened.

"KYYYAAA!" Ino screamed out as she pulled her skirt down. She heard a noise and saw Choji with a hand over his nose and mouth. His face was all red and there was a little blood coming out between his fingers. "Choji!"

"I-I didn't see anything!" The big boy said quickly trying to save himself. Although to be perfectly honest he had seen everything.

Temari could only laugh at it, but she saw the battle Gaara was having and she stopped. She had to end this quickly before it was too late. Gaara was already starting to change, if he went full out she didn't want to be anywhere near this area. She heard someone coming at her and saw it was the two of them. She mentally cursed as she got distracted. Temari put a lot more power into her wind. Choji ballooned up, his increased size and weight helped to keep him from blowing away.

Ino wasn't so lucky. She was blown into a few stands laying there in a heap not moving.

"Ino!" Choji yelled out and Temari couldn't tell from the way the boy was in the way but she bet that girl wouldn't get up soon. If she was getting up, Temari was sure she would have heard her by now. Choji looked back to Temari with an angry glare as she pulled his arms into his body. Temari knew this attack, she had a good wind attack but she wasn't certain about this guy. With the girl out of the way she could easily deal with him, but she would have to keep from being in front of him.

He started to roll towards her, destroying the stands as he went, making a large groove as he went. Temari jumped onto a chair and kicked off to get out of the way. Only that Choji didn't stop, he actually managed to make a tight turn and was heading back towards her. Temari growled at this. She had to keep her chakra in check given they were in the middle of a war zone and she might need all she could to get away. She pulled back her fan ready to attack the ground under him.

Maybe if she cut out a trench he might get stuck or something. She was just about to launch an attack when she jerked suddenly. Then she smiled for no apparently reason.

"Hell yeah, take that you stupid blonde fan girl," Temari said suddenly as noticed Choji coming at her. "Choji stop it already! I'm in control now, it's me Ino!"

Ino (in Temari's body) had to jump down a few seats to avoid him. "Choji you bastard!"

Choji managed to stop himself and return to normal looking at the girl. "Ino, is that really you in there?"

"Here's a hint!" She said going up to him and pulling on his scarf to pulled him up a little to her eye level. "If you ever mention what I know you really saw earlier, I'll put you on a diet."

"Yeah it's you." Choji said as Ino released her hold. "It was a good thing she couldn't see you when she blasted you." He thought back to seeing her laying there between seats. At first he thought she was seriously hurt. But she had quickly spelled out what she wanted with hand signs, after quickly getting an idea of what she wanted, he went to work to distract the older girl. So then it was easy for Ino to use her mental jutsu on her, from when Temari wasn't looking.

With Kankuro things weren't going as he expected. He had to admit that his fight was about even so far. The other boy and his dog were a good match against him. Although Kankuro could use his puppet, only master puppet users could fight with their puppet while using it. He was still too young and inexperienced to try that, but this wasn't the first time he fought more than one opponent at once. But the boy and his dog had near perfect teamwork. When he went after one, the other would attack instantly.

In fact he was getting a bit annoyed at all of this.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Yelled out Temari as Kankuro paused to look at his older sister.

"What, I'm busy here." Kankuro said while keeping his puppet from being smashed, again.

Temari jumped down behind him, "Can't I leave you to do anything?"

Kankuro wasn't sure but his sister seemed a bit more bitchy at the moment. Then again it was hard to tell at times. Maybe she was having her period, she usually did get irritated on those days. Plus with everything going on he was getting very frustrated as well.

"Look just give me some wind and I'll finish them off." He said to her.

"Sure." He heard her say. What he didn't see was her lifting her fan and slamming it on top of his head, hard. Kankuro fell face first onto the ground leaving a very confused Kiba there.

"What the hell is going on?" Kiba demanded.

"It's me Ino," Temari told him. "I took over the girl's body. Now pick that guy up and help carry him somewhere safe. Choji is looking after my body and I want to make sure this girl is tied up before I release her."

Kiba wasn't sure at first, but for some reason he could tell that it was Ino. The way the girl talked and moved was definitely like her.

"Well hurry up dog boy!" Temari/Ino snapped at him.

"Yeah, it's her alright," Kiba sighed.

Team 7 wasn't doing much better, Gaara was proving to be a major force to be reckoned with. The new skin growing over him was harder than stone. They could stick things like kunai into it but they couldn't get any real penetration. Then the skin would just seem to eject the weapons a moment later. Also the other more dangerous part of him was that large arm of his. That arm could shift and change like the sand that Gaara normally used.

The large demonic looking arm flew out, extending impossibly long at Sakura. She only just managed to dodge it. She really didn't want to know how hard that thing would hit her. "Do we have any kind of plan? I mean I don't know if I have anything that can work?"

"What about that water thing I saw you use earlier?" Naruto asked as he tried to attack Gaara with his sword. The Suna ninja swatted the boy away like an insect. Naruto hit the ground but rolled, one of the many things Kakashi taught him growing up was not to stay in place in a battle.

"I could try but I need a distraction." Sakura said back as she used her tonfa to deflect an oncoming storm of sand bullets from Gaara. The small projectiles may not be sharp but they hurt like hell when they hit. She only managed to get most of them, a few hit her body and she knew that despite the light armour she had on, she would be getting bruised up from that. Plus her hands were going numb from the impact they made on her weapons.

Sasuke ran forward, "I'll try something I've been working on. It's not perfected but I managed to get the chidori down I had a thought from seeing that Suna girl." Sasuke jumped up as Gaara's massive arm went to attack him. Only this time he came down and stabbed his sword into the sand. He started to gather up the lightning charka like he had been taught, but this time he didn't form it all the way. He kept it loose and then sent it through his hand, the same one holding his sword.

It wasn't perfected by a long shot. In fact it would take him most likely a year to get it right at this rate. It was too uncontrollable and dangerous to both himself and to others, but for this moment it might work. The lightning went through the sword, well most of it, parts of it shot off in various directions. One arc of electricity nearly hit his own face. But the majority of the power went through the sword and into Gaara. Gaara cried out in pain as the electrical power sent through his body.

Although the sand helped to take most of it, he still felt the terrible pain. He was about to attack when a small tower of water hit him. The force of it knocked him back as Sasuke jumped off the arm. Gaara was not going to let himself be beaten by something like this. With a savage cry he swept his arm across the field. He managed to catch the pink haired girl, she cried out in pain as the two others went over to check on her.

"You okay Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked helping her up.

"I think so," She winced, she had caught most of it with her arm but she was still feeling some pain. Although she didn't feel anything break, she could barely move her left arm at the moment. Plus she must have bruised her ribs slightly too from how they were hurting.

"We have more trouble," Sasuke said as they both looked to see that Gaara's transformation was continuing. When they went to check on her, his body had started up the change again. Now most of his body was covered in that new skin, his face looked like that of a monster and a single tail was growing out of the back. Only his legs which were hardly even seen, were the only human things remaining.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you all!" Gaara screamed out at them, almost happy by the sound of it.

"I think we're in trouble," Sakura said seeing the boy. "Just what the hell is he?"

Naruto didn't say anything as he already knew what the boy was. A part of him was wondering if this is the kind of thing he could expect. He never really had drawn on the Fox's power all that much. If he did, would something like this happen to him? The thought scared him, of him turning into a monster. Looking at Gaara now, he had to wonder just how lonely the boy had to be. How afraid Suna had to be of him, when they saw him like this. Looking at Gaara's eyes earlier he had felt something in them.

That there had to be a spark left in them, a sense of loneliness behind all that anger and rage. The only question was, could that small part of him actually be reached?

Naruto didn't know, all he knew was that his team was in trouble and he could fight and die to protect them.

**-Kage Section of Konoha Stadium-**

Hiruzen Sarutobi was having his own difficulties. Even though he was the Third Hokage, he wasn't the young man that he used to be. His body wasn't as fast or as strong as it had been in his prime when he became the first non-Senju member to take up the mantel. Also his stamina was even in worse shape. Age was the deadliest thing to a ninja's career. No matter how strong you were, eventually age took everything from you. It was a patient beast that slowly gnawed away at you.

'_Or at least it was supposed to,'_ The Third Hokage thought to himself as his fight with his one time student went. Orochimaru however didn't seem at all effected and he was in his fifties. Even Tsunade and Jiraiya slowed down a little bit. But thanks to him using forbidden knowledge, Orochimaru wasn't slowed down at all. In fact the man had seemed to have gotten stronger.

"What's the matter, feeling time catching up to you old man?" Orochimaru grinned during a small pause in the battle. "Perhaps I should show you something that I've saved for just this moment."

"You know I've went through a lot of trouble for this moment, I've thought about all the ways to deal with you. But you know what, I found the perfect way to ensure that you're end is poetic. Given that you passed me over for Hokage, what better way to thank you then to use them."

"What are you talking about?" The Third demanded although he had a very bad feeling. He knew of the kinds of things that Orochimaru researched, but he couldn't possibly have done what he was thinking of doing. But then again, his student had fallen so far into darkness that Sarutobi didn't know just how far he had gone.

"Let's make this reunion of ours more complete, shall we?" Orochimaru said as he started to create several hand seals. It looked like some kind of summoning but it was one that the Hokage had never seen before. Then suddenly out of the ground a wooden coffin started to rise. It bore the number one on it.

The Hokage's eyes widened as his deepest fears were starting to be realised. If those contained what he thought, then Orochimaru had stepped into the realm that no mortal should have ever stepped into. Then a second coffin rose up, by the time the third one was rising he knew that he had little time. He couldn't let all three rise up, especially if that third one held who he thought it might hold. He used a cancellation jutsu, he wasn't sure if it would work but he had to try.

Pouring as much chakra as he could, it was only a matter of putting in as much chakra as Orochimaru had put in to the jutsu. He could feel a tug and pull sensation and knew that he had a chance. He put everything he had into it and saw the third coffin slowly sink back down.

He released it when he saw that the coffin was no longer there. He felt the sweat on his skin from the toll it took on him. It took a lot of chakra and stamina to pull that off but he needed to be done.

"Oh well, I supposed two out of three isn't bad. I was looking forward to seeing the full reunion. But these two familiar faces should do just as well. I think it's time for them to come out." Orochimaru said grinning at the Hokage. The lids of the two wooden caskets fell forward as the pale figures of the First and Second Hokage were seen.

**Next up Chapter 62: Will of Fire**

**Yeah guess you didn't expect that with the Mist team, what secret plot did they have? Well you'll have to wait until we see them next after the battles. **


	62. Will of Fire

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 62: Will of Fire**

Near one of the exits of the stadium, Kakashi and Gai were finishing up with their task of clearing out the area of enemy ninja. Gai apparently was keeping sore of how many he was defeating, well Kakashi was too but he was a bit more aloof about it all. It was at that point that Gai noticed one of their ANBU members in an archway.

"Ah, you there what is the status of the battle?" Gai asked the cloaked ninja.

The ANBU slowly came out of the shadows, "Things seem to be going well."

Kakashi came up to the man, he didn't know that voice then again someone new could have been added to the roster. But he usually heard about that kind of stuff, many in ANBU considered him their 'sempai' after all, so he got a lot of inside information. "So how's the weather in Kiriakure, still wet and bloody?"

The ANBU paused for a moment, "Of course, isn't it always?"

Kakashi immediately threw a kunai at the man, he dodged it only by a fraction of a second as he clipped the mask slightly.

"Kakashi, what are you doing?" Gai shouted out surprised the man would attack a fellow Leaf ninja.

"He's not ANBU," Kakashi said evenly as he looked as the man rose up cautiously. "If he was, then he would have known the correct response to that statement."

"Then if he's not ANBU..." Gai left it hanging as it really didn't need to be finished. Both he and Kakashi had similar thoughts on the masked man who was pretending to be an ANBU.

"Most likely he's the little spy we've been watching," Kakashi stated.

The ANBU chuckled as he removed the mask, "So I was found out after all then?" Kabuto asked them. "Well if my cover has been blown, then I suppose that my role here has ended. Just as well I supposed."

"How can a member of the Leaf be a traitor, especially one so young?" Gai demanded to know.

"My reasons are my own," Kabuto stated coldly, in fact he was never really loyal to the Leaf village. After all, they had killed his family. The only reason he felt that the Leaf took him in, was because they felt sorry for him. "But sadly I won't tell you that, and I also can't afford to being caught as well."

With that Kabuto threw the cloak at them, when Kakashi sliced through it, the young man was already gone. Kakashi was quick to give chase with Gai right on his heels. The stadium was in good hands but if they could capture this spy, there was no telling what they could learn.

Team 7 was facing a very tough opponent, Gaara of the desert wasn't the normal kind of enemy. But only Naruto, knew just what Gaara was. Naruto had lived a good life, while he bet Gaara hadn't. They were two sides of the same coin, because Naruto had a loving family and friends, he hadn't been as lonely as he knew he could have been. Looking at Gaara, he wondered if he had no one to look after him, if this was something he would have turned into.

Looking at him now, it was hard to say how to beat him.

"Hey do you have any toads that can be used for this?" Sasuke asked him.

"Not sure, I could try," Naruto said as he bit his thumb again. He quickly made the seals and tried to summon anything he could. What he got was a small orange and very familiar toad. "Gamakichi!?"

"Hey what's up, whoa! What the hell did you bring me into and what is that thing!?" The young toad said hoping on top of Naruto's head. Sakura and Sasuke could only stare at the scene in front of them.

"So much for that idea," Sasuke said as he had to dodge one of Gaara's attacks again. "That skin is too thick for anything normal to get through. I'm not even sure I can use my chidori can get through it. He thought about using that curse seal but honestly given what he was told about it, and who it was from he didn't trust it.

"That's it I'm out of here, and you better not bring me into something like this again blonde boy," Gamakichi told Naruto before dispelling himself. Naruto sighed, he really didn't expect much from Gamakichi, he was still young after all.

"I have an idea," Naruto said as he got up. "Sakura-chan, Sasuke...I need you two to give me some room."

"Naruto what are you going to do?" Sakura asked him being supported by Sasuke at the moment.

"I have to fight him on his own terms," Naruto said as he looked at the boy. He knew that he couldn't keep things from them and he couldn't afford to keep this power locked up. Not when those close to him could die because of it. "Look, I know you'll have questions but trust me, I'll answer them when this is over."

"So there is something you've been keeping from us," Sakura said feeling hurt at it.

Naruto winced at the sound of her voice, "I didn't mean to, I only found out about it recently anyway. It's just not something I'm comfortable talking about. Maybe cause I'm still dealing with it." That was partially true, he was still getting used to the idea that he had the most powerful demon the world has seen, locked up inside of a seal on his stomach. Another was just how they would react to it.

"Just do what you have to already, we'll worry about whatever it is later," Sasuke said not really caring at the moment what was going on. They had more important things to worry about, like not dying for one.

Naruto nodded once and walked towards Gaara, "Gaara!"

"Oh what is it? You finally decided to show me the real you?" Gaara asked him grinning. He was looking forward to fighting him, he had never met another demon host before. Killing him would please 'mother' and also ensure that he existed in the world.

"This is the real me," Naruto declared. "I know you have something inside of you as well, just like me. But that thing inside of me, that isn't the 'real' me, it's just my prisoner."

"How can you call it that?" Gaara asked him, "You speak as though you hate it, you should love it as no one else will love you. Love yourself, because no one else will, that is my way."

Naruto looked at him with pity he couldn't even imagine what Gaara could have gone through to feel like this. How alone in the world must you be to feel that no one would care for you? He must feel like he's always alone, that he walks the world as though nothing else exists but himself.

"You're wrong Gaara," Naruto told him softly. "I don't know what you're life was like, but when I look at you I see what I could have become. I don't know why you're life was so different. Maybe it was because I did find those that would love and care for me."

"Lies," Gaara snarled at him. "Those that tell you that the love you are only lies and illusions."

Gaara could still remember his uncle, the brother to his mother. For the longest time, he was the only one that would talk to him. The only one that seemed to care for him, whenever Gaara had a problem he could always go to him, talk to him. He felt safe with him, he felt the only love in his life from his uncle. But that had all been a lie, the man had tried to kill him as a child. All because the man that Gaara thought loved him, had really hated him all his life. When he looked at Gaara, he didn't see family, only the murderer of his sister.

That was the night everything changed for Gaara that was when he finally saw the truth of life. Life was pain, death and loneliness. It was a dark and desolate world where you had only yourself to count on. It was a world where the strong lived and everyone else died.

"You're wrong," Naruto told him defiantly. "At first I only had my dad, but soon others started to show up in my life. I made friends and even found a girl that I like and she likes me back. There is no way I can believe that they would ever lie to me about how they felt. I would put my life on the line for all of them, and they would do the same."

"That's what it means to have precious people, they give you true strength."

"True strength," Gaara nearly laughed at that idea. "Strength only comes from within, but let's test this out." Gaara fired more sand bullets at Naruto, who tried to dodge them, but there were a lot. But that was only a distraction, one of Gaara's arms launched out as Sakura and Sasuke with blinding speed. The hand expanded as the two tried to get away and then split off, two clawed hands grabbed the two of them and sent them into the wall of the arena.

"Are you guys okay?" Naruto yelled to them.

"It's...hard to breath," Sakura managed to say. She felt the sand crushing her body and from the looks of Sasuke he wasn't in much better shape.

"Leave them out of this Gaara!" Naruto shouted as he tried to attack the boy with his blade. The blade was easily blocked by Gaara's tough skin and was thrown aside with a massive arm. He landed hard against the ground, so hard that he felt dazed from it. Gaara too this chance and encased him inside of a sand coffin. The sand wrapped around him like he was being buried alive above the ground.

Naruto was in the dark of the sand, there was no light and the place was getting smaller. He felt it was hard to breath at this point. _'No, I refuse to die! I won't die like this, my friends need me and Hinata-chan would be sad if I died. I said I would never make her sad and I won't. I won't let my dad lose someone else, I will get out of this. I will fight, I will win!'_

Laughter was heard as Naruto felt his body slipping away from him.

"_**What will you do to win boy?"**_ A familiar voice of the demon fox was heard by him. Naruto noticed he was back in his inner world. It was that same dark and damp area where the fox was imprisoned behind its massive bars. Naruto felt like he was floating on some water, he could feel it but he couldn't move his body.

"What the hell, I didn't call you," Naruto said angrily to the demon. He could see part of its form in the darkness of the cell. The large fox with wild and evil eyes, this was a creature of pure chaos and death. It was a natural disaster given form, like someone put all of the most destructive elements of nature mixed in with hatred for all things in one massive body.

"_**You're near death brat, that means the walls between us are thinning,"**_ The Kyuubi said to him. _**"I don't want to die just yet so you better use my power."**_

"I'll use your power when I say I will," Naruto shouted at him. He never liked using this power, it just felt wrong to him. The emotions he felt with it, Jiraiya had said while training that the Kyuubi's powers might be drawn out through emotions. Hate, anger all the negative emotions seemed to draw the power out easily. That unsettled Naruto a bit hearing that.

The fox roared at Naruto's limp form. _**"Fool, if you die then I die, besides you already use my power. Where do you think your healing abilities come from or your chakra? You drain me of my power every moment you live, what is a little more? Just enough to win, I can sense the power of another, the One Tail if I'm not mistaken."**_

Although the Kyuubi didn't know much of what went on beyond the bars, a precaution to prevent him from taking over the host's mind, he could still sense things now and then. Mostly it was when the host was injured but with another like Naruto here, he could sense the chakra of a Tailed Beast. After all, they nine of them were kin, they knew each other from anywhere since their birth.

"_**I refuse to lose to him boy, so you will take my power,"**_ the Fox leaned as close as he could to the bars as Naruto stared up into one of the massive red eyes. _**"Even if I have to force feed you my power. Normally I can't but since we're in this state it will be easy."**_

Suddenly red chakra started to seep out of the bars and enter Naruto, he cried out as he felt the power fill his body. He felt like his blood was on fire as the power filled him like he hadn't ever felt before.

On the outside Gaara grinned as he was about to crush the boy, he couldn't wait to feel the blood flow onto his sand. Then he would deal with his teammates and then anyone else, he would slaughter this village. He would bath the village in its own blood in honor of his mother. Then the unexpected happened, the sand coffin exploded. Anyone watching was shocked by what they saw.

There stood Naruto, his clothing torn and there was some blood on him but that wasn't what anyone focused on. There was this red chakra surrounding him, his hair seemed wilder and when he looked up, his eyes were red with slits on them.

"What is that?" Sasuke muttered seeing this he could feel the chakra coming off Naruto. It was malevolent and evil, which was something strange as that, was the total opposite of Naruto. Sakura could feel this too and she had a sense of déjà vu from the forest, only this time the power was larger and even scarier.

Up in the stands there were other shocked spectators, Ino and Choji were watching the fight from a safe distance. Temari was awake as was her brother but both were tied up by the two genins. They too saw what it was, but they knew what was going on.

"He's just like Gaara," Temari whispered out at the sight of it all.

"What do you mean by that?" Ino asked not taking her eyes off Naruto, someone she had known for a long time but since when could he do this? Plus what was up with that chakra, she could feel it from here and it just felt _wrong_ to her.

"You really don't know anything do you?" Temari spat still pissed she had been tricked like that by a girl that hadn't even gotten into the finals.

"Spill it or I'll just rip it out of your mind, and I might accidentally erase a few things while in there," Ino said although she was bluffing. She could do that, if she knew more about her family jutsus but honestly she wasn't that advanced in them yet.

"He's a Jinchuriki, like my brother you air head," Temari spelled it out to her. "I'm not sure which tailed beast he has, but Gaara was implanted with the One-Tailed Shukaku."

"What, I don't believe you," Ino said back sharply. "Naruto would have told us something like this and there haven't been any of those things around here since...since..." Ino trailed off as something in her mind clicked. She thought back to one of Naruto's birthdays, they were a lot younger she forgot which one, but she remembered how she had seen his stuffed fox toy in his room.

She commented on how cute it was and he said something about wasn't cute. Ino didn't remember much, she had completely forgotten about that toy, plus Naruto's birthday also rang in her mind. October 10, the day the Kyuubi attacked. She knew that from school and she had thought it odd how Naruto's birthday was on the same day when she learned it. Thinking back to the year, it was the same year that he had been born too.

But it had to all be just coincidence, didn't it?

Meanwhile, Naruto was getting ready to attack Gaara. The chakra cloak around Naruto started to slowly shift and change as it took shape. Slowly a tail started to form as what looked like ears grew around his head. He roared out, a roar so loud that many could swear they heard it that day from blocks away. The roar was so powerful that his mask was shredded by the force of it. His whisker marks were also changed, they were more feral looking, he grew fangs as well. He looked more animal than man at the moment.

From nearby, Hinata felt the power and heard the roar slightly over the battle. She wasn't sure what it was, some distant part of her mind did remember that feeling. She felt it that night of her kidnapping, although she didn't remember it consciously. But that night, when she felt that power, some primal part of her always did remember and that's why she somehow knew it was Naruto and that something was wrong.

"Hinata, what's wrong?" Kurenai asked.

"Something is wrong with Naruto-kun," Hinata said as she looked back at the stadium.

"Hinata I'm sure he'll be fine." Kurenai told her. She knew the girl was worried about her boyfriend but they had a mission to deal with. But then Hinata just took off, running to the stadium. "Hinata, what are you doing?" She called after her.

"Should we go and get her?" Shino asked.

Kurenai shook her head, they still had things to do there was still fighting going on. "No, but I sure hope she knows what the hell she's doing."

Naruto crouched on all fours as the bloodlust of battle was pumping through his veins. Then he charged forward, he moved with such blinding speed that Gaara didn't have a chance to move. Naruto was too fast as he struck Gaara, and the chakra cloak could actually damage the other boy's body as well. The fist that smashed into Gaara, actually managed to knock the boy back.

Naruto didn't give up though, he was attacking like an animal. He would punch and claw at his opponent. Gaara tried to put up a defence but it wasn't easy. Naruto could burn the sand skin away or just tear it to pieces. Never had Gaara ever battled someone like this, he was enjoying it but he was also feeling something else. Something he hadn't felt in years, fear.

Naruto hard large claws of chakra shoot out and attack Gaara, as Gaara tried to use something similar with his sand. But the chakra was just too strong and the sand couldn't stand up to the power of the Nine Tails. Gaara felt the only way to beat Naruto, was to go all out and to even release the demon within. He had only done so twice before but he didn't care all he cared about was to just kill Naruto Hatake.

Naruto however would not let him have the chance to do it. The large red claws came to grip Gaara him on either side. The sand skin was burning from the touch of the violent chakra, then Naruto ripped him apart. Gaara cried out as the sand skin was literally pulled from him. The sand melted away as it no longer could be controlled by Gaara, Gaara himself felt to the ground in slight shock from what had been done to him. He didn't think it was possible to have his sand pulled away in that form. His whole body felt pain as he tried to concentrate.

Then one of the claws captured Gaara, he grunted out as Naruto's large clawed hand was slowly crushing the boy. Gaara looked into his eyes and saw the same kind of eyes he had seen before. He had to grin, now that was the true boy he was seeing, he felt. It was odd, how he felt so much fear. He never felt so much fear in his life, and was shocked to know that despite everything, he didn't want to die. He cried out as the large chakra claw was crushing his body.

Naruto didn't care about anything at the moment he just wanted to stop Gaara. He had to save the others he had to win no matter what. He didn't even really register what he was doing he just felt the need and the urge to kill him. It was like something deep inside of him was yelling out to kill, and he was going to do just that.

"N-Naruto-kun!"

Naruto stopped as a voice called to him through the fog of anger and rage. He looked to see that Hinata was there and she was crying. Her face had tears falling down as she looked at him and it stopped him cold.

Hinata could only cry seeing what Naruto was going through, she didn't understand what was going on but she knew that this wasn't him. This wasn't the Naruto she had been friends with, that she had come to love. She couldn't let him do this to himself, she had to stop him before he did something he would regret.

"Please stop this, this isn't you," Hinata said as she slowly walked towards him.

Naruto could only look into her eyes, she wasn't afraid, in fact she was in pain. She was in pain because of him. The last time he saw her cry like this, it was the night her mother had died. He had held her as she cried her heart out to him. He suddenly felt sick, he caused this new pain in her, he had sworn to protect her to never make her cry. He had broken that promise to himself.

As she came closer Naruto felt the anger and the power with it slowly leaving his body. The chakra slowly receded as his body slowly started to turn back to normal. Gaara fell as the chakra disappeared but he couldn't move. His body was too damaged to do anything other than look. He looked on confused with what he was seeing. She had seen what he was, so why was she crying like that, why was she not running away?

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto said as his mind slowly came back to normal.

She bit her lip as her tears increased, she quickly threw herself into his chest burring herself into the remains of his shirt and jacket. She held him tight as she cried that he was back to normal. "I was so w-worried about you, I-I thought that I was going to lose you or something. Please don't push yourself like this again, I was so worried about you!"

"I-I'm sorry Hinata-chan," He said softly holding her.

Gaara could only watch on in silence as he saw the scene in front of him. He wasn't the only one as Sakura and Sasuke had been freed. They were watching the scene too, Sakura had a small smile on her face seeing the two of them.

The Hokage was having a very troubling time with the two recently revived leaders of the village. It wasn't easy to fight those he had known so well, he had looked up to the brothers when younger and now he was fighting them. Sarutobi had no idea how Orochimaru had done this but this went beyond evil. To disturb the rest of those who had passed on was something that no man should do. It was also during this battle that they all saw what had happened with Naruto.

"This was not what I intended when I gave each nation one of the Tailed Beasts," The First Hokage said grimly.

"Hmmm, I wonder if you can still control them through a host?" Orochimaru thought out loud. "Well, after we deal with the old fool, we can test it out later. But I think it's time we end things quickly." Orochimaru opened his mouth as a snake holding a sword came out. This was the Kusanagi Sword, a weapon of legend that could, among other things, extend the blade to untold of lengths.

It was then that the Hokage had to battle for his life.

A little later, Team 7 with Hinata helping Naruto, made it to the roof in time to see the Hokage battling for his life. There were a lot of trees in the way from the First Hokage but they could still make out the battle within. Naruto saw the seal and knew it was trouble. Mainly because Anko threatened to put him in on, the one time when he was ten and kept bugging her when she was looking after him one day. He saw the ANBU there just sitting there watching.

"What are you guys doing? Can't you do anything? Naruto yelled at them.

One of cloaked figures turned to face him, "I'm sorry but the seal covers the entire area, even under the roof. And the four that are keeping it up, they are just as protected. We can't even touch the field."

"Damn it!" Naruto yelled out getting frustrated. He didn't know much about seals so he looked to Sakura. "Sakura-chan isn't there anything you know that can help? I mean you would know more about this right?"

Sakura blinked in surprise as she thought about it. "I don't think there is anything. The four of them are the anchors for this jutsu. If they were to fall then it will stop working, but they added a secondary layer that is tied in with the first. They're supporting each other right now. As long as their concentration and their chakra last they can keep it up."

Naruto started to think, there had to be a way. He kept thinking back to his dad's words, such as look underneath the underneath. Well he didn't think that would work out, the only thing under him was the damn building. He couldn't stand to just sit here while the Hokage battled for his life. It just wasn't fair the old man had always been there for him growing up. He was like a grandfather figure to him. He stopped his foot hard enough to break the tiles under it.

Suddenly an idea started to form in his head, "Hey what you said about concentration, could they keep it up if the ground wasn't stable?"

"I don't think so, in fact I'm pretty sure they wouldn't," Sakura then noticed that look in his eyes and had a bad feeling coming on. "Naruto, what the hell are you thinking?"

Naruto just grinned as he turned to leave, "Hey everyone, if this works I want you all to get out of here!"

Naruto jumped off as everyone looked at him, wondering just what he was thinking. Sasuke turned to look at the ANBU. "If I were you, I'd do what he says. Knowing him, this isn't going to be pleasant."

Naruto managed to get to the arena again now looking at the giant seal on the top. He had to make sure he had enough room for this, if he wanted to break that seal, he was going to do it, even if it meant bringing down the entire building. Naruto wasn't sure he had enough chakra for this. But he had no other way around this, he had to do something or the Old Man might not make it.

"Are you sure about this?" Hinata asked him.

He nodded, he still hated how he had made her cry like that. He would have to tell her everything after all of this. But first his plan, or what he had hoped would be considered a plan. He gathered as much chakra as he could, anything he could spare. When he was done, he had a few dozen clones.

"Shadow clones?" Hinata said confused.

"Just just regular ones," Naruto grinned at her as he looked to his clones. "You know what to do."

"Hai, taicho!" They rang out as they rushed into the building. The clones quickly found the major structural areas of the building. Or at least what they thought looked important, since Naruto didn't know much about buildings, but he did know how to wreck things. So anything important looking had a clone or two in there. When they were ready, they all started to explode. It was like a chain reaction, at first nothing happened with the explosions but soon the entire structure started to fall down.

The Sound Four who had been keeping the seal intact, soon found the ground beneath them coming apart. The seal did cover the ground, but it needed solid ground to stay anchored. With each member starting to fall in different ways, the seal was no longer equally spaced. It was too hard to keep the seal up and keep themselves from being buried alive. So they had to break the seal.

Naruto could only grin at the sight of the seal disappearing he just hoped that the ANBU were ready to help the Hokage. With that, he started to black out, he had used up all the chakra he could and he started to fall to the ground. He felt Hinata catch him, she was saying something but he couldn't make it out. He was just too tired and couldn't keep away until the world went dark.

**Next up Chapter 63: Aftermath**

**Man took me a little longer to get this out then I originally thought. **


	63. Finale

**Okay here it is the final chapter, I know you might have been expecting more but I planned to end it at this point all along. I pretty much skipped to Naruto in the hospital as I can't top the action in the last chapter and I think nothing more needed to be put into action given the last several chapters.**

**So enjoy the final chapter and after a break I'll get to writing down ideas. Plus I seriously need a break after two years writing this.**

**Naruto Hatake**

**Chapter 63: Aftermath**

The first thing that Naruto noticed was the white ceiling. It was kind of odd as he felt he should know it, it was kind of familiar. As his mind started to clear up he noticed other things, like he was in a bed now and he was no longer in the arena. He sat up as he looked around to see where he was. He was in the hospital that was why it seemed familiar. He hadn't been here in a long time, he also noticed that he wasn't alone. There laying on his bed was Hinata, she was fast asleep while sitting on a chair but her head was resting close to his leg. He had to smile seeing her there, for a moment he was wondering what happened.

"She's been there the entire time you know," Kakashi's voice was heard and Naruto looked to his left to see his father sitting against the wall and he could tell the man was smiling at the scene. "Good to see you finally up."

"What happened?" Naruto asked him. "The last thing I remember was blowing up part of the arena."

"Yeah, next time try to find a less expensive way to deal with a barrier," Kakashi said scratching the back of his head. The stadium would take months to fix up, kind of like certain other parts of the village. "I'm not sure about everything but here's what I do know. When you brought down the building the barrier went with it. The ANBU were able to help fight with the Hokage."

"So the old man is okay?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Kakashi paused a moment, "Well he's alive, he took a nasty sword wound to his chest Naruto. He was about to do something drastic when you brought the place down. In a way you did save his life as the ANBU were able to help and drove off Orochimaru. I heard that Sakura was helping to keep the Hokage stable long enough for the medics to get to him. Sasuke was helping deal with one of Orochimaru's four guards with the ANBU."

"Hinata stayed by your side when the medics took you. After you were put into recovery she's been here ever since." Kakashi chuckled at that. Her father had come to check up on her from time to time as well. In fact everyone came to check on Naruto so far.

Naruto smiled down at Hinata sleeping there and then he frowned. "Dad...something happened in the arena while I was fighting Gaara."

"Yeah I heard," Kakashi sighed. "Looks like you'll have to come clean or lie to everyone."

"I don't want to lie..."

"Well that settles that then," Kakashi shrugged, there was really nothing more you could do in this kind of situation. It was Naruto's secret to tell and he would have to tell them at some point. Although given Naruto's friends, Kakashi had a feeling that things would be okay. They had known Naruto for years after all and accepted him as he was. He just wished that he and Gai could have caught Kabuto. With all the chaos of the invasion, the young man had managed to slip away.

So far Kabuto's place had been turned upside down, and his adopted father's death was being looked into again. The man had died a few years back by what was originally thought as a complicated heart attack. They would have to take another look at the body at this point. But Kakashi knew they wouldn't find anything, the boy had been a mole for Orochimaru for who knew how long. He had lived here and no one even suspected him. He knew a few people in security that would be sour over that oversight for awhile now. That was the only thing odd that had happened either.

The Mist team had vanished, they were looking for the bodies but there were a few dead chunin that had been looking after evacuating those injured. Maybe the genin had been taken by Oto as hostages but so far nothing was turning up. Suna of course after realizing that they had been manipulated by Orochimaru weren't happy. There was a total cease fire while everyone tried to make sense of things. Only a few hours ago word had come that the body of their leader had been found in the desert, and he had been dead for some time it would seem.

"So how is everyone?" Naruto asked his father.

"Everyone came out fine," Kakashi assured him. "There were a few deaths, injuries and other things. A few places would need to be rebuilt but everyone you know seemed to come out okay."

Naruto nodded happy to hear that, he figured some people would die in this battle but he was glad that it was no one he knew. It was kind of selfish but he didn't want to lose anyone close to him. He looked down at Hinata's sleeping face and she looked so peaceful. "What about Gaara and the others?"

"They're currently being held for the time being," Kakashi said to him. "Although they were acting under orders they still were involved in a plot to destroy the village. At the most they will be returned soon."

"Dad, could I talk with Gaara before he leaves?" Naruto wanted to make sure that he got through to Gaara. Looking at the boy in that battle had shown Naruto how he could have become in life if things had been different.

Kakashi looked surprised at the boy, "That's odd, he's been wanting to see you too. Well when you're okay I'll take you to him, but I think you have something to take care of first." He pointed to his bed.

Naruto looked down and saw that Hinata was stirring a bit. Kakashi got up to excuse himself, they would want their alone time anyway. He left the room and made sure the door was nice and closed. He turned to face Sakura, Sasuke and all of Naruto's friends. He blinked seeing all their faces. "Uh...yes?"

"So is the idiot awake yet?" Sasuke demanded but people could tell that he was asking if he was okay. He just didn't want to show concern was all.

"Oh that, yeah he's awake but give him a few minutes," Kakashi explained to them all. "He needs a little alone time with Hinata."

"What?" This came from Neji who looked at the wall. He was contemplating looking through it to keep an eye on them. Hinata he trusted, but Naruto, this was the boy that grew up around a porn reading father and flirted a lot before dating his cousin. Plus he had already heard the rumours of Hinata's father chasing the boy out of the compound a month ago.

"Don't even think about it," Tenten nudged him with an elbow reading his mind. He looked like he was about to say something but the look in her eyes, told him it would be too troubling to even try to argue with her at the moment. He just crossed his arms and would keep an ear out, just in case. If Naruto did do anything inappropriate with his younger cousin, then he would feel the boy's wrath. It was the duty of the branch family to defend the main branch after all.

"So will we finally know what the hell happened to him back there?" Ino demanded to know. "I mean we were all told not to talk about it but it was really freaky."

"You will all learn, he just wants to tell Hinata first," Kakashi explained as he moved aside. He wondered down the hall a bit and leaned against a wall to look at the kids. So far he could tell they were curious. Anyone who hadn't been there, had most likely heard the story of how Naruto had defeated Gaara. In fact that news as well as how Naruto took down the barrier were already circulating. Thankfully, the part about Naruto using the Kyuubi's power wasn't common knowledge. It had been years since a certain group had tried to harm him, most likely given up.

That had always bothered Kakashi, they never did find all the people responsible for those 'accidents' and the hired missing ninja that attacked him once as a child. How they even got into the village was never fully brought to light. Oddly enough, after the Uchiha clan killings it dropped off. Had one or more of that clan been a part of it? It was a question he had been thinking about for years. Well at least he was certain that Naruto wouldn't have to worry about his secret with his friends.

It was then that he noticed her, she had come up on his blind side again, a little game of hers. He hadn't heard her but he could feel her presence, that and her scent was unmistakable. "Yo, how are you Anko?" He asked and then turned to face her.

She had on a slightly annoyed look on her face, just once she wanted to sneak up and surprise him. Her face softened a bit looking at all the genin down the hall. "So the brat is up I take it."

Kakashi nodded, "He's going to have some explaining to do but I'm not worried."

"Good so no reason to stick around," Anko smirked as Kakashi looked at her confused. She put on a sweet and innocent face. "It's just the strangest thing, I found this little thing all alone and thought I would borrow it." She pulled open her jacket and Kakashi saw a pink uniform there and not just any uniform. A nurse's uniform.

"It's just my size too and I wanted to play with it," Anko pouted. "I always wanted to play doctor as a nurse, you know of anyway you can help?" She asked him in an innocent tone, but her eyes said all that she had planned. After all, it had been a long month since the two of them had had any 'fun' together. Both were kind of feeling the need to get some kind release soon.

Kakashi thought about it, Naruto would be still in here for a couple of days for observation. That meant they had his place all to themselves and since he was in a house and not in an apartment like Anko, they didn't have to worry about the neighbours banging on the walls for them to keep things down.

"You know I think I can help with that," Kakashi grinned as her as she smirked seeing a similar look in his eye that she had. The two quickly and quietly slipped away.

In Naruto's room, Hinata was finally coming around. Naruto grinned down at her, "Hey there Hime-chan."

"N-Naruto-kun!" She lunched herself at him wrapping her arms around him.

Naruto could only grin as she hugged him, he couldn't pass this up so he wrapped his own arms around her. Man he missed this, the sensation of holding his girl, the smell of her hair. Although he could feel the hair on his cheek, which was odd, he was used to wearing the mask. Maybe he could have someone run home for a spare, he felt a bit naked without it. It was too bad he remembered his being destroyed in the fight with Gaara.

"Sorry if I worried you," He said gently to her.

"I-it's okay, I'm just glad that you're okay now," Hinata smiled at him she was just happy that he was awake and he seemed okay. "Naruto-kun, what happened back there? I was so worried with what happened."

He sighed knowing this was coming. "I got a lot to tell you. You remember when we got tricked to getting that scroll?" She nodded her head. "Well when he knocked you out he told me something, I didn't want to believe it at first but my dad told me everything."

He went on to explain how the Fourth had sealed the Kyuubi inside of him as a baby, that it was the only way to stop the demon beast. Then he told her how he was adopted and that Kakashi had taken him in on that day. He wasn't sure what her reaction would be, it was a lot to take in of course. But he really needed to tell her of all people, she needed to know the truth.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Naruto said looking at his hands holding the sheets. "I just didn't know how to tell you. I mean I'm still sort of dealing with this and also...I wasn't sure if this would work against me with your clan. I mean I want to prove to them that you and me are great together. I also didn't want to worry you about this. I mean it's my problem and I just didn't want to drag you into it, I mean things were going so well and…well…"

Hinata looked at him as she tried to read his face, he couldn't have thought that she would reject him for this could he have? It didn't change anything for her, in fact she felt so much respect for his burden. He was protecting the entire village and most people didn't even know it.

"Naruto-kun, I would never let something like this get between us," she told him softly. "I think you're amazing. You keep the entire village safe at the cost of the danger of keeping him inside of you. I know that you will protect this village and me, so I could never be afraid when you're near. You've helped me to be a stronger person, helped me when I was sad and alone, when my mother died, you've always been there for me."

"I promise that I will always be there for you as well." She told him holding him tight.

Naruto was at a lose for words, he felt his heart melt at her words and it just felt so nice to know that she would always be there for him. It felt great to tell her and that she accepted it all. He felt like he was the luckiest guy in the world in that moment.

He smiled at her as he gently ran a hand over her pale cheek. She blushed a bit as she leaned into the contact slightly. He gently started to pull her towards him, she didn't fight, in fact she leaned in eager to kiss him again. She felt his lips touch hers and she felt great at just the contact, they started to slowly kiss but her arms and side got tired in holding herself in this awkward position. Naruto noticed and surprised her by pulling her onto the bed. She squealed lightly but this was far more comfortable. She snuggled up against him, happy that he had trusted her to let her in on this secret. She could tell that it had weighed heavily on him and she would help him carry his burden from now on if she could.

It was at that moment the door to the room caved in and in fell several genins.

"Damn it, Ino-pig I told you that you were pressing too hard!" Sakura yelled at her friend who was laying on top of the pinkette.

"I was not!" Ino shouted out back. "Someone kept pushing me out of my spot to listen."

"Sorry but I wanted to know what was going on," Choji said as he was on the left of the door. "But you were the one that was on top of me."

"There was no other room left," Ino defended herself.

"Don't be too worried," Tenten said as she was one of the few that hadn't been listening in. Although that didn't mean she hadn't tried but there had been no decent place left. "Besides I think it was when Lee got excited nearly rammed the door like he had."

Lee bowed, "I am sorry everyone, I was just so excited. I wanted to see my eternal rival and wanted to make a grand entrance for Naruto-kun!"

When everyone had been listening in, or trying to, Lee had been trying to be patience for Naruto to finish with Hinata. Unfortunately, patience was something that Lee never had. When Neji had commented out loud to himself, that "Naruto was taking too long and better not plan on spending the whole day alone with Hinata", well that broke something in Lee. He couldn't take the waiting and had tried to listen in as well. Too bad he had ran right at the door and instead of slowing down he rammed himself into it. All the weight and the impact had caused the door hinges to give out.

Everyone picked themselves off as they entered the room. Shino and Kiba tried to put the door back, or at least make it look like it was back. They hopefully would be far away by the time someone noticed the door was broken.

"Hey you still don't have your mask on!" Ino said pointing at him. "I wish I had a camera."

Naruto scowled at the girl as he brought a bed sheet up to cover his lower face. He really wished he had a mask now. Hinata when the door caved in and jumped in her seat and had grabbed Naruto. She was still in that place and looking at everyone and in the position she was in, well her entire face went red in embarrassment. Here she was in an intimate position with her boyfriend.

"Comfortable Hinata?" Sakura grinned at her.

She couldn't even say anything and the look on Neji's face, well he looked ready to say something to Naruto. But he held his tongue back, he would let it slide but he might have to have a word to him later about how close he was with her.

"So…how much did you guys hear?" Naruto asked.

"Not much," Sasuke said, "They were repeating what they could hear but I think we got the gist of things."

Naruto sighed as he went through it all again, exactly as he told Hinata just to make sure that everyone was on the same page. When he found out what was locked up inside of him, how Kakashi had told him that he was adopted, everything, it kind of felt good getting it all out of the way honestly. So he waited for the reactions.

"So why didn't you tell us this until now?" Sakura asked annoyed he would keep this to himself. "We're your friends you know." Although on the inside it was kind of freaky to know that Naruto Hatake held the most powerful demon beast in all history inside of him.

"You know I've always wondered why the history never said how the Fourth managed to defeat the Kyuubi," Shikamaru shrugged. "It always bugged me but I never really thought to look into it. I figured either no one really knew or it was some kind of secret."

"And being adopted makes sense," Kiba said thinking about it all. "You don't smell like Kakashi."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked at that.

"Everyone smells a bit like their relatives," Kiba explained to him. He and Akamaru had known for years that Naruto and Kakashi didn't share any family scents. But he never mentioned it, he might have been wrong about it plus it was considered rude to his clan to mention scents to those not inside of the clan.

"That also explains why my insects were always cautious around Naruto," Shino spoke up next. "They must have been sensing that other chakra you have in your system."

"Naruto-kun!" Lee suddenly shouted out making everyone jump up. "You have the greatest flames of youth ever! With your flames you have been keeping this secret and have been holding on to one of the greatest responsibilities ever in keeping the village safe. I can only hope to one day match your glorious and youthful task!"

Lee gave Naruto as bright smile and giving him a thumbs up, leaving Naruto sweat dropping at that point. Sometimes Lee really went overboard. Naruto was considering to do a 'hip and cool' Hatake style blow off but decided to pass, just this once. It just felt nice to be accepted by everyone, there had been some part of him worried.

"So you're not freaked out?" Naruto asked.

"Well maybe a little," Ino admitted as she had seen what he was really capable of. "But it's not like you're not in control and besides we all know you well enough to know the kind of guy you are. Although I always thought you just took after your mother in looks, at least being adopted explains why you and your dad don't look alike."

"Oh yeah," Tenten said thinking about it. "I thought that as well. Did you ever find out who your biological parents were?"

"Uh...yeah," Naruto said slightly embarrassed. "But you can't tell anyone."

"Why not?" Sasuke asked. Although he was silently dealing with the revelation and he would think on it later, it made sense how Naruto could have so much chakra and heal up like he did. So it would seem that Naruto was 'special' after all, although not of his choosing. Seeing the power he had used in that fight, Sasuke did admit that he felt a bit jealous that Naruto had such power. But seeing how much it was affecting the blonde, maybe there were downsides to it. He would ask him some other time.

"It's sort of a secret," Naruto said to them. "Apparently my father had lots of enemies and if they found out he had a son then they might go after me. So I was asked to keep it quiet because I'm not ready to face them on my own just yet. So you can't tell anyone this, not until I'm ready for the world to know, okay?"

He looked around as everyone eventually nodded, he took a deep breath. It was still odd to think on this, all his life Kakashi had been his dad, and the man always will be, he didn't even have any memories of his father and mother. But he still felt something towards them, they have given him life after all.

"Well my mother was Kushina Uzumaki, I only know a bit of her. From the picture of them I keep in my room, she was really pretty with long red hair. My father's name was, well, Minato Namikaze."

"Minato Namikaze?" Sakura asked as she felt she knew that name. "Why does that-wait a minute! As in THE Minato Namikaze? As in the Yellow Flash, the Fourth Hokage!?"

"What? No way!" Kiba shouted out in surprise as the entire room was filled with surprised reactions.

"Guys keep it down!" Naruto said looking towards the door. Just in case anyone might overhear all the commotion.

"Sorry," Sakura said. "But you have to admit, that you're the secret son of...that man...is amazing. I don't think there was any mention of him even being involved with a woman in the history books."

"I think we know why now," Sasuke said thinking on it. "Since he's such a major figure to the village they wouldn't want people to know he had a family. Given the last war, there were a lot of people that he pissed off. They would like nothing more than to see him or his family dead for revenge."

"Man you can never do anything simple huh?" Shikamaru smirked at the blonde boy.

"Hey you know me, I'm just full of surprises," Naruto grinned.

**-Near the Boarder of Fire Country-**

The two Mist ninja had been travelling nonstop since their escape from Konoha. It was the perfect time to slip away after all. Both had made sure to cover their tracks just in case, but with all the Suna and Oto ninja running all over the place, it would be hard to track them. They had needed a way to slip out of the village anyway they didn't need to stick around with a war going on. Plus they could report this any weakness in a village was good news. They quickly managed to make it to the coast line to their appointed meeting place. They were currently on a cliff overlooking a fishing village where they would get transport to Water country.

They heard someone coming up behind them and quickly turned but relaxed seeing the familiar figure. He was tall with long dark hair and a sword carried on his back. He wore loose white clothing with a black vest.

"Where is the third member of your team?" He asked them.

"I'm sorry Saizou-sensei but he was killed in the exam," Ami said as she bowed her head a little.

"By who?"

"A Suna genin by the name of Gaara," she supplied.

He nodded his head, he knew of the name the boy was a rising star in the ninja world. It was important to keep their eyes on it. Well at any rate, losing one man wasn't pleasant but it happened. He shouldn't feel too bad, as the genin in question was quite skilled. He walked to a nearby tree and threw two chunin jackets to them.

"You'll need these back," Saizou said to them as they put back on their vests.

"I can't believe that we had to pretend to be a genin team," Ami said out loud. "We had to hide our full skills and even lost because of it. If only there had been a genin team ready for the exams at this time."

"You know as well as I do that there wasn't a team ready for this," Gendo said finishing putting on his jacket. "The mission was to infiltrate the village to confirm the death of Zabuza, gain all intelligence on the team responsible, find any useful information on the village of Konoha and its defences. Putting on a show to show off Kiri ninja skills to those there was just a bonus."

"That's right," Saizou said nodding, "Since you two were granted chunin status by special order for missions like this, you were allowed to compete. Did you find the information you were asked?"

Ami pulled out a scroll, "Detailed layout of the village, with the patrols I managed to see, defences and anything special I saw from memory. You'd think that having foreign ninja in the village for a full month they would keep an eye on us. Although I bet they thought I was just seeing the sights."

"I think they had bigger issues with Suna and that new village Oto," Gendo commented as he pulled out his own reports. It was a good thing they had the scrolls hidden with their belongings and picked them up on the way out. The hotel they had been in, had taken a fire jutsu and most likely would be burned down by now."From what I gathered it is believed that Team 7 under Kakashi Hatake killed Zabuza."

"You don't sound totally convinced," Saizou asked hearing the tone of his former student. He had raised this team from their genin days, although they were no longer genins, they still called him sensei. It was a sad moment that one student didn't return, but that was life. He still remembered the days when his country would hunt down and purge bloodlines and kill a friend for the genin tests. But those days had long since been fading and he wasn't looking forward to telling them of the new development.

"It's just a feeling," Gendo said to himself. "I feel we should at least send someone to exam the area where he had died to be sure. If Konoha is keeping a missing ninja from our village under protection, it could start a war with them. Not that I wouldn't mind that, in their current state if they survived the attack they would be weak enough to attack."

"Unfortunately that may not happen," Saizou sighed, it would have been glorioud to take down one of the great ninja nations. Water country could have expanded into the mainland and used Konoha's location to build a fortress. "It turns out we have a new kage."

"Who?" Ami asked.

"Mei Terumi," He nearly spat out the name.

"That twice cursed bloodline user!?" Gendo shouted out as he stood up. "How in the hell did she gain the Kage title of our village?"

What wasn't known to many outside of the Water country, was that after the bloodline purges things had slowly changed. With so many other ninja nations having more and more bloodlines, Kiri had started to take them in to train as weapons. It was an idea that many of the older generation didn't like. Saizou himself had taught his students the old hatred for bloodline users. Unfortunately, Mei's skills and abilities had slowly been winning over the younger generations over the past few years.

She finally had enough people backing her, that to prevent a civil war, the council and bowed down and made her the new Fifth Mizukage. It was a bitter sweet moment, to the younger generations they had a new leader they would look up to, one that promised change from the old ways of the Blood Mist Village had been. To those like Saizou, it was like drinking acid that slowly ate away at his insides. But the fact was that she was just too powerful, any that had challenged her openly had been mercilessly killed. He had seen her in action and knew that he could never beat her, not with those two bloodlines she had.

"I can't believe this," Ami said softly in anger.

"I know but we must bare with it, we may not like her but she is our leader," Saizou said as he started to walk to the small village on the shore. "Come, we have a long journey and I want to hear your reports in detail."

They walked off all except Gendo who looked back in the direction of Konoha. He may have been on a mission, but one thing was for sure. He would be back one day, he would avenge the slight on his honor by the hands of Naruto Hatake. That would be a name he would burn into his soul and make sure that masked blonde would wish he had finished Gendo off when he could have.

"One day Naruto Hatake," Gendo swore to himself. "One day we will meet again, and the next time, will not be like the last."

**-Konoha Hospital, Hokage's room-**

Sarutobi had felt better than he had at the moment, given the talented medical ninja they had thanks to the breakthroughs from Tsunade, he was still alive. Although his old body couldn't take the strain of such a battle again he was told. The damage to his body was just too much to handle. He had been pierce through his spine as well, which was why he couldn't feel his toes on one foot and could hardly move that same leg. He was told that he would have to walk with a cane from now on. It was hard to breath sometimes and he also had these nasty coughs now and again, he was alive but just barely.

If he had been a young man he could recover, but with his age it was just harder to heal his body. Although at least he could watch his grandson grow up. Plus the Hyuga had already given his family a request for a possible marriage between Konohamaru and Hanabi. He knew the two were friends so it was an interesting idea. But that would have to wait with time. Maybe now he'd also get the chance to see his other son Asuma actually settle down himself. The Hokage had already had his family visit him, and he tried to put on a brave face. Asuma could see through it though, but he said nothing of course.

Sarutobi tried not to sigh, it hurt too much, as he thought about the future. He couldn't be Hokage anymore, it was a younger person's game and he should never have gotten out of retirement. But no one else was up to the task, he had hoped to find a suitable replacement but the only two he could think of, well, they were somewhat problematic. Jiraiya was busy with his spy network and he had never bothered to train a new student. Plus he supposed that Jiraiya was still looking for 'that person' to train, if he hadn't given up that was.

That only left Tsunade, she had problems but it was time for her to come home. He had allowed her to run off for far too long. He had kept up hope that she would return on her own but year after year she never did. He supposed that made sense, she always was the stubborn child. But it was time for her to come home and accept the office of Hokage. He had thought about it, as he had nothing else to do but think, and she was the only choice. He certainly didn't want someone like Danzo to use this moment to try and take the position. That old war hawk had been trying to get the title of Hokage for as long as he had known the man.

No, he wouldn't allow that man to take the office. He had already sent a message for Jiraiya to come and see him. Since his old student was still here, helping to clean up. It was then that he heard the window of his room slowly open. The old man looked and smiled seeing his student slip into the room.

"You really should break that habit," Sarutobi grinned. "It will land you into trouble one day."

"Trouble is what I live for," Jiraiya smirked at him and then grew serious seeing the wounds. "How bad?"

"Enough to force me out of office again," The old Hokage sighed as he rested in his bed. "I'm just not as young as I used to be, should have given this to a younger person instead of taking it up again. Oh well, that's why I need you."

"Whoa there," Jiraiya said holding up his hands, "I'm not taking the office. You'd know I'd be bad at it, I can't do paper work, hell I haven't even filed a proper mission report in two years. I'm busy with me rese-I mean, my spy network too."

The Hokage chuckled but it soon turned into a coughing fit as Jiraiya went over quickly to see if he could help. After a moment the Hokage managed to relax a bit as his breathing got better. "That's not why I needed you here, there is a scroll on the table over there," he pointed. "I need you to find her, it's time for her to come home."

Jiraiya knew who he was talking about.

"You think she'll just come back, just like that?" He asked knowing full well how stubborn Tsunade was.

"She might not have a choice in the matter," The old man said sadly. "Try anything you can think of, I want her here by her own choice but in the end...well read the scroll."

Jiraiya picked it up and scanned it, he didn't like the wording in there and he could read between the lines. "You serious about this?"

"If I don't then who will lead?" The Hokage asked him. "Besides, if someone like Danzo gets in charge he might just declare Tsunade a missing ninja just because of what she represents and could be a threat to his power in the future. Even if she plans on dying never seeing these walls again, I know how the man thinks, he wouldn't take that kind of chance."

Jiraiya had to nod, he had meetings with Danzo a few times and each time he got a worse and worse feeling about the man. He was loyal to the village, that wasn't in question, but the man's methods and goals were suspect. Jiraiya put the scroll away, "I'll leave in a few days. I'll need to hunt down some leads on where to start. Plus I need you to authorised to send a certain genin with me."

"Is this someone I think we both know?" The Hokage asked him.

Jiraiya nodded, "I heard he did well, got you out alive at least. I think the boy could use some more training and it's about time I spent more time with my god son. I left him in Kakashi's care and the man raised him well. Now it's time to see what kind of tree and grown from the seed that had been planted.

Jiraiya was eager to see just what Naruto could do.

**The End....**

**...For Now.**

**There finally done, after two years! Man I didn't expect this to go this far, well I left it open like this for the sequel to kick off at this point. But seriously I need a break from this story and this seemed like a good idea to stop. So keep an eye out for when I'll post the sequel. I guess you could consider this Part I. Too bad too, I nearly got three thousand reviews, oh well. I also don't think the sequel will be as long as this as this had a lot of set up with the younger years.**

**In the meantime I'm working on a new story. "Bleached Vampire", a crossover story for Bleach and Rosario+Vampire. I liked both fandoms and decided to try my hand at it.**


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